Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) has issued the following statement on October 23, 2026:

SAHMAT strongly condemns the action by the authorities of Bikaner House in Delhi in censoring the photography exhibition of the young photographer Raihan Vadra, just before its official opening on October 21. The exhibit titled “No Idea is Final” consisted of three bodies of work. Large colour images of wildlife, primarily of Tigers and Leopards, black and white abstractions and assemblages and a large body of black and white images of the recent protests which have rocked the capital.

According to the photographer, the authorities started raising objections to the protest pictures as they were mounted the evening before the opening. Hours before the opening, he was asked to remove 75 of the images or else the entire exhibit would be cancelled. He was also asked to remove images of the national flag, which he refused to do.

In the event, the exhibit opened with the majority of the space empty except for the hanging screws on the walls. Ironically, the main room only contained the preamble of the constitution running the length of the walls.

Bikaner House has become a major venue for exhibitions for the art community, and an action like this does not bode well for the future of this venue. How can any artist trust this as a space to exhibit after this.

That a young artist faces such action at the beginning of their artistic journey is a shocking indictment of the atmosphere of repression, fear and threat which has become normal in our country. Images of these protests have been widely seen across the country and the world in print, broadcast and online media in the millions. That authorities fear that images on a gallery wall, seen in an art context and visited by limited numbers would be threatening is a comment on their own blinkers guided by their political masters.

SAHMAT is no stranger to actions of this kind in our 37-year history. We have faced and confronted a number of bans, legal action, even physical assaults on our exhibitions and performance events. The freedom of expression guaranteed to all citizens by our constitution has been the bedrock of our very existence and all the artists, academics, historians, writers and designers in our creative family have fought to uphold this right.

We stand strongly in support of Raihan Vadra and even now call on Bikaner house to restore the exhibit in its full form.