Thrissur: Sangh Parivar-backed outfits have embarked on a virtual hate campaign against Deepa Nishanth, assistant professor at Sree Kerala Varma College, Thrissur, for backing an exhibition of paintings by M.F. Hussain on the college campus. The exhibition was organized by the Students' Federation of India (SFI).

Deepa also faced acid attack threats as fringe elements circulated WhatsApp messages exhorting their sympathizers to pour acid on her. The teacher lodged a complaint with the chief minister and the state police chief.

Right-wing groups had allegedly given a call to disrupt a public function at Engandiyoor in which Deepa was expected to participate on Friday.

Earlier the outfits, up-in-arms against the Hussain painting on Goddess Saraswati, had morphed Deepa's photograph, attaching it to a nude body, justifying it as artistic freedom.

Deepa had come out threatening legal action against such virtual attacks and said that artistic freedom was permissible for myths, not for reality.

The teacher was earlier cornered by the parivar over a Facebook post in support of the beef festival in her college, run by the Cochin Devaswom Board. She had then noted on her page that artistic freedom was the centuries-old virtue that helped evolve Hinduism into the multifaceted ideological crucible it was today, slamming the parivar for their efforts to erect a monolith of the faith.

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