Ink smeared on graffiti on wall in front of Shilpakala: Two including A N M Ayas detained at Shahbagh Police Station
Photo: Collected
Police have detained two people, including Rashtra Sanglap Forum president A N M Ayas. The allegation against them is that they smeared ink on the graffiti of writers and filmmakers of West Bengal, including Rabindranath Tagore, painted on the wall in front of the Shilpakala Academy in the capital.
After being detained on Saturday (10 October) afternoon, the two were taken to Shahbagh Police Station. Confirming the detention, the duty officer of the police station said they had been brought to the station over the incident of ink being smeared on the pictures of writers and filmmakers of West Bengal on the wall in front of the Shilpakala Academy and that they are currently there.
At the initiative of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), graffiti of 10 writers, litterateurs and cultural personalities was painted on the wall adjacent to the Shilpakala Academy. Since then, the matter had been the subject of discussion and criticism. Alongside eminent personalities of Bangladesh, the pictures of Rabindranath Tagore, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and filmmaker Satyajit Ray of West Bengal found a place there.
Many raised questions on social media about the inclusion of personalities from West Bengal in the graffiti. Whether more accomplished personalities of Bangladesh could have been kept on the list, and whether personalities of Bangladesh would have been given a place in West Bengal in the same way, were among the things discussed. Criticism also arose over the absence of women personalities in the murals.
DSCC recently carried out a beautification drive in the capital’s Segunbagicha area after freeing the footpath from occupation. On the way towards Matsya Bhaban, dustbins and benches for sitting were installed on the footpath on the opposite side of the Shilpakala Academy’s boundary wall, and graffiti of eminent personalities was painted on the wall. DSCC administrator Abdus Salam inaugurated the work last Monday morning.
Besides the three personalities of West Bengal, the graffiti features the pictures of Bangladesh’s national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, Fakir Lalon Shah, Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin, S M Sultan, filmmaker Zahir Raihan, Baul Samrat Shah Abdul Karim and actor Humayun Faridi.
