Graffiti or street wall writings has always been a powerful expression against injustice. Such powerful and persuasive graffiti has been noticed lately as students of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) have been protesting the brutal killing of Abrar Fahad, one of the fellow students.
BUET and University of Dhaka students has been protesting Abrar Farhad murder, now under investigation, seeking justice and safety of other students who especially reside in university dormitories. Apart from chanting slogans and demonstrating in the campus some students have resorted to wall writings to make their expressions even louder and bigger.
Graffiti has been used for long time in Bangladesh from the time of the British Raj, through the Pakistan era and military rule, the art and writings on the wall have often been a harbinger of change, spearheaded by mostly university students. Visiting BUET and University of Dhaka (DU) campus this correspondent noticed the street walls of the university adorned with many graffiti which highlight demand for justice and removing illegal practices.
“Wall writing or graffiti has always been used in the campus there as a means of silent protests. The graffiti made today is not only because of highlighting the murder of Abrar, but it also highlights the silence of people and administration towards any misuse of power by so-called politicians,” said Mominul Haque, an Architecture Department student of BUET.
A total of 24 walls prominent walls in the BUET campus were used to paint different graffiti on Saturday last. Moreover, apart from protesting Abrar murder reflected in the wall paintings a series of graffiti were noticed at DU campus walls protesting the death of Hafizur Rahman who died allegedly for spending whole night in the open outside his dormitory in cold. Hafizur had no accommodation as the DU SM hall could not allocate him with a room that he had deserved to stay in as a DU student.
Abrar Fahad protest graffiti were also seen at DUCSU building wall. It read – ‘Justice for Abrar’. Another graffiti at Arts’ building of DU shows bloody and injured Ehsan Rafique who was mercilessly beaten by allegedly BCL leaders in SM Hall on 6 October last year. Most of the graffiti described demand ensuring legal seat in the dormitories of the university.
These graffiti were drawn by DU students under a banner named, ‘Boidho Seat, Amar Odhikar.’ Talking with Armanul Haque, an organizer of ‘Boidho Seat, Amar Odhikar,’ said, “We painted some graffiti in the university campuses to aware students for solving accommodation crisis and seeking justice and protesting rising political violence.”
Another graffiti found on a nearby wall of Dean’s office of the Faculty of Arts read: “Lasher vaarbohonkorteparbi to?” which roughly translates to “Will you be able to bear the weight of the dead body?”
However, in most the graffiti, the artists hide his or her name. The walls of TSC is decorated with numerous graffitis. The graffiti of Sanjeeb Chowdhury commemorates his contributions in the fields of music. Sanjeeb Chowdhury’s music inspired a many while protesting against the then BNP-Jamaat Government’s oppressive moves.
Tariq-ul-Islam, a 2nd year student of Public Administration of DU said, "Graffiti is aesthetically enriched, vibrant in color. A row of closed fists breaking the chains of tyranny and oppression makes it worth watching." There are some newly made graffiti in TSC as well which emerged as a means of silent protest.