An Artist Driven From Home Tests India's Democratic Ideals.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Maqbool Fida Husain, India's most famous painter, is afraid to go home. Mr. Husain is a Muslim who is fond of painting Hindu goddesses, sometimes portraying them nude. That obsession has earned him the ire of a small but organized cadre of Hindu nationalists. They have attacked galleries that exhibit his work, accused him in court of ''promoting enmity'' among faiths and, on one occasion, offered an $11 million reward for his head. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]