Qataris avoid giving away citizenship; Why did they award it to Hussain?

I belong to the camp that considers artist M. F. Hussain’s relinquishing of his Indian citizenship a matter of shame for the Indians. Hussein’s self-imposed exile itself hurt. One of the most valued artists in the world, who should have been adored by India, was instead hounded out by the goons of some propaganda seekers.

As it turns out, the paintings that roused hatred were decades old. The trouble began when a newspaper published an article on them in the mid-nineties.

What is however being lost in the hoopla of Hussain donning the Qatari flag on his shoulder (he was recently photographed with a red-blood colour scarf that resembled Qatar’s flag) is the benefit he brings to Qatar.

Qatar has just opened a new 430,000 square feet new museum – one of the largest in the world.

The country has been a prominent collector of art works in the past ten years – Sheikh Saud al Thani a cousin of the country’s emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani collected artifacts worth tens of millions of pounds before being placed under house arrest on charges of inflating the invoices. This happened almost five years earlier.

Getting a Qatari citizenship is a difficult task. It requires a mandatory stay of 25 years in the country, besides being a Muslim for one’s application to be considered. Several deserving applications of Iranians, Pakistanis, Iraqis and Palestinians have been rudely set aside by Qatari immigration authorities. How does it so happen that Hussain was so gladly invited to be come a Qatari?

Hussain is 95. And he has a lifetime worth of artwork to handover to someone. Has this been smartly sensed by Qatar? And is it the opportunity of hanging Hussain’s priceless masterpieces –apparently for free or for a good bargain price -- on Qatar museum walls that has led to the maestro being invited to become a Qatari citizen?