The mural lies in pieces. The high-profile Bajaj Bhawan Society, spearheaded by Vinode Dalmia, head of the managing committee, has issued a notice to the Consul General of the State of Qatar. It reads: “The Consul General of the State of Qatar has damaged and broken the assets, mural, sculpture, walls and lobby of the Bajaj Bhawan Society to the shock and dismay of Indian citizens just a few days ago. This has been done without the conditions of the BMC being met and the Society’s nod.”

The total loss due to the destruction carried out by the Consulate in the lobby of the Bajaj Bhawan Society is estimated at Rs 2 crore.

“We are holding a press conference this Wednesday, where we will present the facts. This matter concerns diplomats, who are guests in our country and we don’t want to have speculations or aspersions thrown at them. However we have footage of them tearing down the mural on CCTV and will present all the BMC and Society papers to the press,” says Dalmia.

When contacted, the Qatar Consulate’s chief affairs officer Mohammed Anwar Mahmood said, “These allegations are quite baseless. We haven’t damaged anything. We carried out the modification for a security reason, as His Excellency Saleh Bin Ali AL Jaber, was at the Oberoi Hotel when terrorists struck on 26/11 and we need a separate and safe entrance into the Consulate.”

Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Zone I) Kishor Kshirsagar, when contacted, said he was not aware of the issue. “But we will examine it,” he said.

Anwar also confirms that the No-Objection Certificate sought by them from the Society was not provided by the society. The Consulate approached the Commissioner of Police on May 18 and obtained ‘permission’ to go ahead with the construction.

Arzan Khambatta who recently returned from his month-long US trip does not know the extent of the damage. He says: “This is quite terrible, an affront to art. I will make an informed statement once I have seen the extent of the damage and send a letter of protest to the Qatar Consulate. I am deeply distraught by this news,” says the artist.