MUMBAI: Teaching faculty members and research scholars at IIT-Bombay are miffed with the organisers of Mood Indigo, the institute's annual cultural festival, giving in to the Shiv Sena last week and removing the painting of a modern Lord Hanuman . Most of them say they did not find the wall painting objectionable and are upset about the institute being silent on the issue.On December 26, about 20 members of Shiv Sena forced Mood Indigo organisers to whitewash a wall on which the mural, resembling Lord Hanuman, was painted. The painting had 'Hanuman' in a modern Avtar wearing glasses, holding a pen instead of a mace, wearing shorts, slippers and headphones. The Sainiks found the painting inappropriate and got it removed and left only when the organisers gave a written apology to them.A section of the faculty members and research scholars believes the organisers would not have issued the apology letter without the IIT administration's consent. They will be soon giving a letter to the institute seeking an account of the incident and voicing their dissent. They have already spoken about the issue on faculty forums.One of them asked, "How did the institute allow a party to impose its viewpoints at a event meant for cultural diversity? On what basis was an apology issued? None of us found anything objectionable in the painting. Why should it have been removed? We got to know about the episode only from the media. We want the institute to come clear on this issue."A postgraduate student said they are not against any party. He said, "But how can such an incident take place on the IIT campus? Members of a political party enter the campus, create a ruckus, force the festival organisers to remove a painting and manage to get an apology. What was the police doing when all this happened?"One of the festival organisers said the overall coordinator was forced to give the apology letter before any institute official arrived. "The main concern was the safety of the 30,000-odd students who were on the campus for the festival. The members of the political party were creating a ruckus. There was a concert scheduled in the evening and the CM was also on the campus in the afternoon. It was important to settle the matter before it aggravated," said one of the organisers.