Noted painter Maqbool Fida Husain, living in Dubai for nearly an year, said he was not in exile and would be visiting India next week.

"India is my motherland. Nobody is stopping me from visiting my country," he said.

Husain said it was a "matter of choice" for him and "the government of India has not enforced anything."

"I have been living abroad for the last 50 years. In the 80s, I worked in New York. Prior to that I was working in London, Paris etc. I love to work in different places," he said adding, no other meaning should be attached to his staying in Dubai.

Husain has been facing obscenity charges back home and some of his paintings have drawn the ire of religious groups, who have accused him of hurting their sentiments.