When street art makes ‘execution call’

Students of the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) have found an innovative way of demanding capital punishment for war criminals.

They are depicting the ‘rich history of Bangladesh’ through a two-kilometre-long street painting from the university’s main gate to Shahparan.

The street-art, which the students claim to be the ‘longest in the world’, is expected to be inaugurated on Sunday evening by lighting 800 torches.

The three-day artwork will demonstrate the pride of the students as citizens of Bangladesh and its rich tradition, which will be their tribute to those who laid down their lives for the country’s independence in 1971.

Designs were provided by the Department of Architecture, said KM Zulkernain, a post-graduate economics student. “All SUST students can join in the street art,” he said.

Rashd-ul-Alam, a student of architecture, claimed this would be the longest street-painting in the world.

The one-kilometre stretch of street-painting in Dhaka’s Manik Mia Avenue was so far the ‘longest’ in the world, he said

“The painting would contain the history from 1948 to 2013.”

It is divided into two segments. The one kilometre stretch of the road from SUST main gate to ‘Golchattar’ would depict the history from 1948-1971.

The remaining part of the road would portray Bangladesh’s journey from 1971 to 2013.

Language Movement of 1952, the role played by Ayub Khan when he seized power, the Six-Point Movement of 1966, Mass Revolt of 1969, election of 1970, Liberation War of 1971, Bangabandhu’s killing of 1975, Anti-Autocracy Movement of 1989, Mass Revolt of 1990 and the movement demanding war crimes trials under Jahanara Imam from 1992 are among the things which will be expressed through street painting, the organisers said.

The cost of this innovative venture is being borne by the former and the current students and also the teachers, they added.