Protest at Shaheed Minar against Piash Karim

A group of angry artists have been painting the street near Dhaka’s Central Shaheed Minar in protest after learning that controversial talk-show commentator Piash Karim body will be taken there.

They were seen painting caricatures of ‘Razakars’ or Pakistan occupation army’s local collaborators from the 1971 Independence War in the protest that began at 11am Tuesday.

Karim, who taught at BRAC University, died after suffering a heart attack on Sunday morning. He was heavily criticised for calling the Shahbagh uprising ‘illegal’.

His father Advocate MA Karim was one of the influential members of the infamous Peace Committee in Comilla during the 1971 Liberation War.

File Photo: mustafiz mamun/ bdnews24.com

The professor’s family said his body will be brought to the Shaheed Minar on Wednesday so mourners can bid him farewell. The call sparked outrage on social media where an event was set up to resist the plan.

“The sacred Shaheed Minar will not bear the body of a (Pakistani) agent, take it to Pakistan” – it was written on the north steps of the memorial on Tuesday.

Another banner read, “The sacred Shaheed Minar will not bear the body of Razakar’s son Piash Karim; stop this, Bangladesh.”

Ashikur Rahman Ron, a member of the protesting artist group, said: “Piash Karim was a liar, son of a Razakar and agent of Pakistan. His body can never be allowed on the sacred Shaheed Minar.”