'New Bangladesh', '36 July': Artworks grow on Dhaka walls to memorialise protests

This is New Bangladesh screams one of the graffiti spraypainted on the gates of an official bungalow in the Dhaka University area one of the hotbeds of the recent antigovernment protests in BangladeshAnother mural carries the slogan Long Live the Resistance with images of the countrys national flag and human hands painted on the wallFor the very few nonBangladeshi nationals in the capital city here these artworks invite both a sense of curiosity and intrigue while some of the university students PTI spoke to claim that these were made by a group of fine arts students of the Dhaka University in the last few daysThe murals look fresh with glowing and vibrant paints but they all carry a poignant message written mostly in Bengali and some of these mock the deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina who on August 5 resigned and fled to India after unprecedented antigovernment protestsThese murals and artworks were made by some of the students of the fine arts department at DU Dhaka University This is to memorialise the struggle of the students and others in bringing a change of regime and hopefully the system ahead as also to inspire others Abdur Rahman a Dhaka University student told PTI hereA native of the historic Comilla district of Bangladesh about 100 km from Dhaka Rahman is currently a firstyear undergraduate student in the English Department of the 103yearold university that is no stranger to mass protests historicallyThe public square facing the TSC Teacher Student Centre of the university has the famous AntiTerrorism Raju Memorial Sculpture opened in 1997 where many students gather these days to raise voices for their two principal demands no political interference in University and Dhaka University Students Unions election be held as soon as possibleAs one moves towards the road leading to the Shaheed Minar a monument dedicated to the Bengali language movement in the country located in the Dhaka University area walls on both sides burn bright with thematic murals some of them being giant ones which catch the eyes of passersbySome stop by to click pictures or take selfies for memoriesSeveral hundreds of people have been killed in the protests in Bangladesh triggered by the reinstatement of a quota system for the allocation of jobs in civil services and injuries suffered in its aftermathThe fall of the Hasina government after sustained protests has been described by many Bangladeshis as the Second Independence of Bangladesh or the birth of a New Bangladesh or Notun Bangladesh in BengaliDhaka or Dacca as it was called during the British rule served as an important city in the Bengal Presidency of undivided India and then as the capital of East Pakistan from 19471971 after the PartitionBangladesh was born in 1971 when Muktijodhas and Indian troops fought shouldertoshoulder against the Pakistani forces resulting in the birth of a new nation with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as its first presidentMuch of the legacy of Bangabandhu as he was called is under attack at present following the protests his towering statue in Dhaka toppled on August 5 while his old murals were being defaced across the cityMany of the new murals in the Dhaka University area mention the date 36 July a rather quirky coinage by local protesters to describe August 536 July We Will Never Forget We Will Never Forgive reads another muralThe protests ran through July month which has 31 days and the victory was achieved on August 5 with the fall of a corrupt and dictatorial government But they wanted to memorialise July so an extra five days were added symbolically to call it July 36 instead of August 5 The bloody month got extended and so these artworks are in a nod to that sentiment and to honour those killed Rahman saidAn interim government has come but one will have to see when fresh elections are held said Md Rifat Hossain 21 a firstyear undergraduate student of economics at Dhaka UniversityAn interim government with Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus as the Chief Adviser was sworn in on August 8 following the dissolution of the Parliament a decision prompted by a demand by the AntiDiscrimination Student MovementAs Bangladesh awaits the next election and the new government these painted walls of Dhaka will perhaps serve as an artistic reminder of the churn the country went through for the desired changeThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever