From Ai Weiwei to Raihan Vadra: When Art Challenges Power
In 1995, Chinese artist Ai Weiwei did something that shocked many people. He dropped a 2,000-year-old Chinese urn and captured it in three photographs. The artwork was called Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn.
For many people, the urn was a symbol of China’s rich history. Breaking it seemed like an insult to that history. But Ai wanted people to question why old objects and traditions should always be treated as sacred. Who decides what is valuable? And should the past stop people from creating something new? These were some of the questions raised by his work.
Ai later became a strong critic of the Chinese government. In 2011, he was detained for 81 days without being publicly charged during his detention. After his release, he faced a large tax demand, surveillance and travel restrictions. Chinese authorities said the case involved economic offences, while Ai argued that the tax case was being used as an excuse to target him. His detention was not a punishment for the urn artwork alone, but it became part of a wider story of his conflict with the authorities.
A similar struggle took place in Germany during the rise of Adolf Hitler.
Artist John Heartfield used cartoons and photomontages to attack Nazi propaganda. His 1932 work Adolf the Superman: Swallows Gold and Spouts Junk presented Hitler as a man whose political image was backed by Gold coins and powerful interests.
John Heartfield paid a heavy price for his opposition. In 1933, Nazi stormtroopers raided his home. He escaped arrest by fleeing to Czechoslovakia. In 1934, the Nazi government took away his German citizenship. He later had to flee again and spent years in exile.
Let me once again talk about Ai Weiwei’s Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, which shows the artist dropping a 2,000-year-old Chinese urn in a series of three photographs. The artwork raises a simple but important question: why should old traditions and beliefs be respected without question? Why should they be beyond criticism simply because they come from the past?
A similar question is being raised by the young protesters gathering at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Thousands of students and young people have taken to the streets to challenge the BJP government and its Hindutva ideology.
At Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, students gathered to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan after a paper leak controversy and reports of student suicides. Their protest had a clear demand, but the way they took it to the streets reflected a younger generation’s style: creative placards, sharp slogans, memes and social media campaigns.
The police action against protesters and journalists also brought attention to how student dissent was being handled. The police brutally cracked down on the students, leaving hundreds injured, some with fractures.
Censorship has become a growing concern under the BJP government. Photographs of protests, Instagram reels showing police action, and videos of protesters raising their voices can face restrictions or be taken down. During the 2026 student protests in Delhi, some reels showing alleged police violence and satirical videos criticising the government were reportedly removed or restricted.
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This is also why the controversy surrounding Raihan Vadra’s photography exhibition in Delhi deserves attention. Around 74 to 75 photographs showing student and youth protests were removed from his exhibition, No Idea Is Final, at Bikaner House in New Delhi, in October 2026. Bikaner House is run by the Rajasthan government, which is led by the BJP. The venue said the photographs went against its rules on political content. Raihan questioned the decision, saying the exhibition had been approved earlier and that the photographs simply documented public protests. The incident led to allegations of censorship and raised questions about freedom of expression.
The photographs showed students protesting at Jantar Mantar in Delhi over the NEET exam controversy. Raihan Vadra captured scenes of police lathi-charging the protesting students. The students were demanding answers over alleged irregularities in the exam, which falls under the Union Education Ministry led by BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
Vadra is a young photographer, still at the beginning of his career. His experience should not be equated with the imprisonment and exile faced by Ai Weiwei and Heartfield. But it raises a question worth asking: what happens when an artist shows something that those in power may not want people to see?
In one of the photographs captured by Raihan Vadra, a man sits on a bus while a crowd gathers below, creating a powerful visual narrative.
The raised hands, cameras trying to photograph the detainee inside the bus, and the elevated figures create a sense of tension.
Such art can make those in power uncomfortable. It challenges the ruling government in a subtle but powerful way.
Ultimately, art is not just about what we see, but also about what it makes us question.
From Ai Weiwei and John Heartfield to Raihan Vadra, each example reminds us that photographs and images can tell stories that words sometimes cannot. When such images make the Government feel uncomfortable, It also raises an important question: do people have the freedom to speak up, share what they see, and criticise the government without fear of their voices being silenced?
I would like to conclude this article with Banksy’s mural Love Is in the Air. This mural reminds me of a quote Rahul Gandhi used during his Bharat Jodo Yatra: “Nafrat ke bazaar mein mohabbat ki dukaan kholne jaa raha hoon.”
If I were to interpret Banksy’s artwork in the context of student protests, I would say that students do not come to the streets with political anger alone. They also carry care for their society, hope for a better future and a desire to bring change. The government and the police may see them as angry protesters, but they must also try to understand what lies behind that anger. Every young student has aspirations, new ideas, and concerns about the future. Most importantly, they care for their fellow students, no matter which part of India the other students come from.
Perhaps these students, too, are trying to open a “Mohabbat ki Dukaan” hoping for a better society and a better country. The least the government can do is listen to them before raising its batons and do lathicharge.
Tarafdar Zaman
Social Psychologist
z.trafdar@gmail.com
