More than 70 photographs by artist and photographer Raihan Vadra, documenting recent youth protests in India, were taken down by the Bikaner House administration ahead of his solo exhibition in New Delhi, prompting his mother and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to accuse the authorities of muzzling the voice of the youth.“Today it’s him, tomorrow it’ll be another artist,” Priyanka told a news agency on Wednesday, criticising the removal of the photographs from the exhibition, titled “No idea is final”.Describing the move as “ridiculous”, she said the photographs were a visual documentation of protests and contained no commentary or material derogatory towards anyone.Asked to remove Tiranga photos tooThe Bikaner House management forced me to remove the bulk of my artworks. The photos were of youth protests in Delhi. Apparently, the content is ‘objectionable’. They also directed me to remove two photos of the Tiranga. – Raihan Vadra“They are muzzling the voice of the youth across the nation. So it’s only expected that they’ll do it to anyone,” she said, adding that the situation raised questions about democracy.Raihan said the Bikaner House management had raised objections to the “political nature” of the protest photographs a day before the exhibition’s opening and asked him to remove them. He said he had shared the detailed proposal and layout of the show with the management well in advance.According to Raihan, he was told at 3.30 pm on Wednesday that the photographs had to be taken down by 5 pm, failing which the exhibition would be cancelled. He said the management told him it was “not the right time” to display such photographs.The artist also said an image of the national flag was taken down, which he subsequently put back on display.The exhibition features wildlife photography, abstract work and street photography, documenting recent youth movements in India. Raihan objected to the removal of the works less than 24 hours before the opening, saying the management had been informed about the show’s contents beforehand.Bikaner House, a cultural venue in the heart of the Capital, went ahead with the removal of the photographs on Wednesday. The administration was not immediately available for comment.The exhibition was previewed on Wednesday and will open on Thursday. It runs till Jattvibeday, with around 40 photographs remaining on display after more than 70 were removed.