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

DHAKA: 'This is New Bangladesh' -- screams one of the graffiti spray-painted on the gates of an official bungalow in the Dhaka University area -- one of the hotbeds of the recent anti-government protests in Bangladesh.

Another mural carries the slogan 'Long Live the Resistance' with images of the country's national flag and human hands painted on the wall.

For the very few non-Bangladeshi 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 days".

The 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 anti-government protests.

"These 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 here.

A native of the historic Comilla district of Bangladesh, about 100 km from Dhaka, Rahman is currently a first-year undergraduate student in the English Department of the 103-year-old university that is no stranger to mass protests historically.

The public square facing the TSC (Teacher Student Centre) of the university has the famous 'Anti-Terrorism 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 Union's election be held as soon as possible".

As 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 passersby.

Some stop by to click pictures or take selfies for memories.

Several 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 aftermath.

The 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 Bengali).

Dhaka 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 1947-1971 after the Partition.

Bangladesh was born in 1971 when Mukti-jodhas and Indian troops fought shoulder-to-shoulder against the Pakistani forces resulting in the birth of a new nation with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as its first president.

Much 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 city.

Many of the new murals in the Dhaka University area, mention the date '36 July', a rather quirky coinage by local protesters to describe 'August 5'.

'36 July We Will Never Forget We Will Never Forgive' -- reads another mural.

"The 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 said.

An interim government has come, but one will have to see when fresh elections are held, said Md Rifat Hossain, 21, a first-year undergraduate student of economics at Dhaka University.

An 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 Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.

As 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 change.