Graffiti asking questions about fear, injustice

Anonymous artists have been drawing graffiti on Dhaka walls, one after another and they come with new messages.

Obviously, these graffiti have drawn the attention of the city dwellers. Reflected on the social media sites, they have caused quite a storm.

A pencil pierces through a throne and next to it is written 'Uff'.

This is one of the two such graffiti that have recently been popular and done on the walls of Dhaka University's Jagannath Hall and Rokeya Hall.

In another, 'Bangladesh in Remand' written next to the map of Bangladesh under a light that is used in the remand cell.

"This trend of drawing graffiti has already made a place in Bangladesh," art critic Mustafa Zaman said.

"Many artists used to draw only on canvas or paper. But probably now they feel they could not reach the masses. They might have taken graffiti as a medium to communicate with more people."

Art critics say the first of the two graffiti intends to mean that truth always dethrones injustice. On using a pencil and not a pen, they say a pen with a broken nib cannot write, but a pencil can be sharpened again if the head is broken. And it only means honest people will always rise against injustice. No matter how many times they are silenced, they will fight back.

To the mass people and many critics, the second one questions the remand of scores of students during the recent protests.

A student seeking anonymity said, "Remand does not only mean taking someone to the cell. By placing some of the protesters on remand, the authorities successfully instilled fear among their peers."

Another student said new laws are being made to silence the citizens, which is a threat to the freedom of speech.

A few days back, two more graffiti on these same walls were the talk of the campus. One was 'Sohomot Bhai' (Yes Brother) and another was 'Helmet Bhai'. The first was aimed at mocking the flatterers while the second one condemned the people who helped in repression.

The anonymous artists used stencil to do these graffiti.

A few months back, the 'Subodh' series became popular where a man was seen as someone eager to flee the country with the sun captive in a cage in his hand, or someone unjustly jailed or someone who has lost the meaning of life.

Graffiti often has a reputation as part of a subculture that rebels against authority, although the considerations of the practitioners often diverge and can relate to a wide range of attitudes. It can express a political practice and can form just one tool in an array of resistance techniques, according to Wikipedia.

From Delhi's anti-rape protests to the Occupy Wall Street movement in the US and 'Hok Kolorob' of Jadavpur University, graffiti were everywhere.

Even 'Subodh' inspired many from the West Bengal to draw similar graffiti on Jadavpur University and Presidency University campuses.

In Dhaka, the new graffiti are more straight forward, expressing what they want.

Some have drawn one in front of the residence of the DU vice-chancellor that demands noted photographer Shahidul Alam be freed.

Another, in front of Rokeya Hall, demands punishment to rapists.

*This piece, originally published in Prothom Alo print edition, has been rewritten in English by Quamrul Hassan