Feud over Ziaur Rahman road sign in Chicago

A road named after Bangladesh's first military dictator Ziaur Rahman at Chicago’s Rogers Park has led to a diplomatic imbroglio and legal action by Bengali expatriates.

The BNP founder was among the 1,500 people and institutions after which the city’s streets are named, writes the Chicago Tribune.

Meanwhile, a group of Bangladeshis has sued the city council but their case was dismissed by a judge on Tuesday.

Alderman Joe Moore of the 49th Ward backed the decision to honour Rahman on behalf of a group of residents including one who donated $1,000 to his campaign fund.

As Moore prepared for unveiling the road sign in September, he received a call from the Mayor’s office informing him that Bangladesh Ambassador Mohammad Ziauddin had contacted the US State Department to protest the decision.

He said Ziaur Rahman was behind the killing of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family -- and therefore unworthy of the honour.

Dhaka’s envoy also asserted that the military ruler, who eventually went on to form the BNP, ran an oppressive regime until his own assassination in 1981.

"We believe the United States has a very strong record on the rule of law, human rights and good governance," Ziauddin said. "Rahman ruled Bangladesh as a tyrant and an oppressor, and this honour stands in opposition to those values."

But Moore set aside the State Department’s request and put up the sign on the 6600 and 6800 blocks of North Clark, leading to a flurry of letters to various US cities from the Bangladesh Embassy to avoid a repeat of Chicago.

The alderman, who described Bangladesh politics as ‘pretty rough and tumble’, said he did some research and found that both sides of the divide were involved in wrongdoings and Ziaur Rahman seemed like ‘one of the good guys’.

Speaking to Ambassador Ziauddin on the phone, he said the sign was in a remote part of the city and the Devon Avenue in 50th Ward has been called ‘Sheikh Mujib Way’ from 1997.

"So now the other side has its recognition," said the alderman, known for bringing international politics to the city council.

Meanwhile the city council was sued by a group of Bangladesh expatriates who found the road sign offensive to those of them who live in Rogers Park.

"There's a large Bangladeshi community in that part of the city," said their lawyer Al-Haroon Husain. "It would be like a Russian walking down the street and being confronted with 'Honourary Joseph Stalin Way.' You don't want to see that."

But the case against ‘Ziaur Rahman Way’ was dismissed because there was not enough fund to carry it through, said Munir Chowdhury of ‘Coalition for Asian-American’, that started the legal battle.

Dr Siddikur Rahman, president of Awami League’s US chapter was supposed to finance the legal battle but pulled out in the end, he told bdnews24.com.

“We are trying to gather funds to restart the case. We’ve spoken to our lawyer Al-Haroon bin Asad Husain. “We’ll not allow a road in our city to be named after Ziaur Rahman.”