Indian’s best-known contemporary painter, Maqbool Fida Husain, who died of a heart attack on Thursday, was buried in a simple ceremony in London on Friday afternoon.
The funeral prayers were held at Idara-e-Jaaferiya Mosque, a Shia mosque, in Tooting, southwest London, where friends and family members started arriving at the venue from 10 am. Husain’s body had been kept at the mosque overnight to prepare for the funeral.
The Husain family opted for a traditional ceremony and his body was kept in a simple coffin with the lid open as the priest recited prayers. Husain’s son Shamshad arrived from India on Friday morning. The small group of family and close friends, including Shobhaa De and her husband Dilip, Lord Ghulam Noon, former tennis player Naresh Kumar and his wife Sunita Kumar were among those who sat around as the Shia cleric prayed.
A large number of art gallery owners and representatives from auction houses like Christie’s also paid their respects to the late painter. The Indian high commission was represented by Syed Asif Ibrahim, minister, coordination, and Nehru Centre director Monika Mohta.
After the 45-minute prayers, the mourners paid their respects to Husain, lying in a coffin, his body wrapped in a white cotton shroud. His face was at peace. The prayers were followed by a namaz by family and friends in honour of Husain. The undertaker then prepared the coffin for burial.
“The family opted for a simple and unpretentious ceremony rather than letting others trying to hijack the funeral turn it into a circus,” family friend Shobhaa De said after the prayers. Shobhaa, who was overcome by emotion during the funeral prayers, was critical of the Indian government’s offer to hold the burial in India, saying: “It was too little and too late.” She added, “I am glad the family was strong enough to resist and stay with their plan to hold the burial here.”
Husain’s friends vehemently denied that it was tragic in any manner that Husain had not been buried in India. “I think the family took the right decision. I can’t tell you how much hate mail I have received after my article,” Shobhaa said, adding that there was also fear that his grave could be desecrated in India.
The Husain family kept away from the media and ensured that the funeral stayed private. The body was put on a hearse and the close family members formed a procession and went to Woking in Surrey for the burial. The simple burial ceremony was followed by the fateha prayers by the family.
The burial, attended by family, took place at Brookwood in Woking, which is home to the Shah Jehan Mosque. The mosque, built in 1889, is the oldest of its kind in northwest Europe.