The graffiti of ouster prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, which was erased, on Metrorail pillar at Dhaka University (DU) campus redrawn.
The repainting work has begun at 1 am on Sunday and continued till Monday morning. Political parties and leaders of the anti-discrimination student movement at DU participated in the program.
The shoe- throwing at the graffiti will start at 1 pm on Monday, aiming to restore the July-August uprising memory.
Protesting the DU authority’s move of removing graffiti of Sheikh Hasina, a group of DU students first drew a caricature of the fallen ruler. But, the students demanded that the graffiti be drawn in its previous form.
The graffiti was drawn by Shimul Kumbhakar, vice-president of the central committee of the Bangladesh Students Union, Mridha Rayyan, a member of the student union of the Faculty of Fine Arts, and Momin Muktar Sabuj, former publicity secretary of the Student Federation.
In this regard, Meghmallar Basu, DU President of the Bangladesh Students Union, said: “This graffiti was painted by all the active student organizations. It is a good sign that everyone did this together. However, by erasing the previous graffiti, a document of history has been erased. We cannot give the administration such a concession.”
Umama Fatema, spokesperson of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, said: “The graffiti is everyone’s property.”
On August 3, the people of Bangladesh, without fearing for their lives, came to the TSC and expressed their anger by throwing shoes at the picture of Sheikh Hasina, she said, adding: “That document has been erased.”
She demanded a proper explanation from the authority, and said: “Now this picture has been painted anew, but the original thing is no longer there.”
Rifat Rashid, a student of the International Relations Department of Dhaka University and coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, said: “Once the picture of Sheikh Hasina is drawn, the picture of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman will also be painted. A shoe-throwing program has been organized at 1 pm.”
Bd-Pratidin English/ AM
