Muslim woman's Krishna paintings draw attention

KOZHIKODE: Jasna Saleem,  24, from Koyilandy, is a Muslim with only one passion in life—painting the pictures of  Lord Krishna. The burqa-clad woman standing in one of the many stalls arranged at Swapnanagari, the venue of the BJP national council meeting,  with a collection of Lord Krishna paintings, was the centre of attraction of the party  delegates.    

She has never painted anything other than the Lord Krishna portraits and all her attempts to draw something else have  failed.  She wanted to  meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi here and gift him one of her best paintings. She explained how she started pursuing this skill seriously. “My son who was seriously ill was denied  treatment  in a hospital at Thamarassery by a Muslim doctor.  The reason he cited was my paintings  of Lord Krishna, about which he had come to know,” she said.

She had recently gifted one of her paintings to BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan,  which was why she got a chance to be present at the  venue. After meeting leaders like  Mr Kummanam,    Mr Suresh Gopi, MP,  and a few others of the party, she realised that their  party  was keen on maintaining religious harmony. “I am not worried if my work would offend anybody in our community,” she said. Some people of her community think that she is not sticking to her religion. “I believe that it is Allah who gave me  life and hence I will not abandon my God to go after another,” she  said.    Jasna has sold  nearly 250 paintings in the last 18 months.