Rap, memes, graffiti: Bangladesh’s new political tools, a year after Hasina | Protests

Dhaka, Bangladesh — On July 16, 2024, as safety forces launched a brutal crackdown on scholar protesters campaigning towards then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s more and more authoritarian authorities, Bangladeshi rapper Muhammad Shezan launched a track.

Titled Kotha Ko (converse up in Bangla), the track requested: “The nation says it’s free, then the place’s your roar?”

It was the day that Abu Sayed, a protester, was killed, turning into the face of the marketing campaign to depose Hasina after 15 years in energy. Sayed’s demise fuelled the general public anger that led to intensified protests. And Shezan’s Kotha Ko, together with a track by one other rapper, Hannan Hossain Shimul, turned anthems for that motion, culminating in Hasina fleeing Bangladesh for India in August.

Quick ahead a 12 months, and Shezan not too long ago launched one other hit rap observe. In Huddai Hutashe, he raps about how “thieves” are being garlanded with flowers – a reference, he mentioned, to unqualified people seizing necessary positions in post-Hasina Bangladesh.

Because the nation marks the anniversary of the rebellion towards Hasina, protest instruments that performed a key function in galvanising assist towards the previous chief have develop into a part of mainstream Bangladeshi politics.

Rap, social media memes and graffiti are actually additionally part of the arsenal of younger Bangladeshis trying to maintain their new rulers accountable, simply as they as soon as helped uproot Hasina.

‘Do much less drama, expensive’

As mob violence surged in Bangladesh final autumn within the aftermath of Hasina’s ouster, a Fb meme went viral.

It confirmed the acquainted crimson and inexperienced seal of the Bangladesh authorities. However as a substitute of the golden map of the nation contained in the crimson circle, it depicted stick-wielding males beating a fallen sufferer.

The textual content across the emblem had been tweaked – in Bangla, it not learn “Individuals’s Republic of Bangladesh Authorities,” however “Mob’s Republic of Bangladesh Authorities”.

The satire was biting and pointed, revealing an uncomfortable facet of post-Hasina Bangladesh. “It was out of this frustration that I created the illustration, as a critique on the ‘rule of mobs’ and the federal government’s obvious inaction,” mentioned Imran Hossain, a journalist and activist who created the meme. “Many individuals shared it on social media, and a few even used it as their profile image as a quiet type of protest.”

After the student-led revolution, the newly appointed interim authorities below Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus launched into a sweeping reform agenda – masking the structure, elections, judiciary and police.

However mob violence emerged as a problem that the federal government struggled to include. This era noticed mobs attacking Sufi shrines and Hindu minorities, storming girls’s soccer pitches, and even killing alleged drug sellers – many of those incidents filmed, shared and fiercely debated on-line.

“After the July rebellion, some teams in Bangladesh – lots of whom had been oppressed below the earlier regime – instantly discovered themselves with a whole lot of energy. However as a substitute of utilizing that newfound energy responsibly, some started taking the regulation into their very own fingers,” Hossain mentioned.

As with rap songs, such memes had additionally performed a significant function in capturing the general public temper throughout the anti-Hasina protests.

After safety officers killed a whole lot of protesters on July 18 and 19, Sheikh Hasina was seen crying over injury to a metro station allegedly brought on by demonstrators. That second fuelled a wave of memes.

One viral meme mentioned “Natok Kom Koro Prio” (Do much less drama, expensive), and was viral all through the latter half of July. It mocked Hasina’s sentimental show – whether or not over the broken metro station or her declare to “perceive the ache of shedding family members” after regulation enforcement companies had killed a whole lot.

Till then, ridiculing Sheikh Hasina had been a “troublesome” act, mentioned Punny Kabir, a outstanding social media activist identified for her witty political memes over time, and a PhD scholar on the College of Cologne.

Whereas newspaper cartoonists beforehand used to lampoon political leaders, that stopped throughout Hasina’s rule since 2009, which was marked by arrests of critics and compelled disappearances, she mentioned.

“To face off an authoritarian regime, it’s [ridiculing] an necessary and highly effective instrument to beat concern and surveillance,” Kabir mentioned. “We made it attainable, and it broke the concern.”

‘Should you resist, you’re Bangladesh’

As concern of Sheikh Hasina light from social media, extra individuals discovered their voice – a mirrored image that quickly unfold onto the streets. Hundreds of partitions had been lined with work, graffiti, and slogans of braveness resembling “Killer Hasina”, “Cease Genocide” and “Time’s Up Hasina”.

“These artworks performed a giant function within the protests,” mentioned political analyst and researcher Altaf Parvez. “Slogans like ‘In case you are scared, you’re completed; however in case you resist, you’re Bangladesh’ – one slogan could make all of the distinction, and that’s precisely what occurred.

“Individuals had been trying to find one thing brave. When somebody created one thing that defied concern – inventive slogans, graffiti, cartoons – these turned sources of inspiration, spreading like wildfire. Individuals discovered their voice via them,” he added.

That voice didn’t go silent with Hasina’s departure.

Right now, memes concentrating on numerous political events, not simply the federal government, are widespread.

Certainly one of Imran’s works makes use of a Simpsons cartoon for instance how sycophants used to eulogise Hasina’s household for its function in Bangladesh’s 1971 liberation struggle when she was in energy. Now, the cartoon factors out, loyalists of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Celebration (BNP)’s chief Khaleda Zia and her son Tarique Rahman try to flatter their household for his or her contribution to the nation’s independence motion. Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, led the liberty wrestle, whereas Zia’s husband Ziaur Rahman was a senior military officer who introduced the nation’s independence on March 27, 1971.

One other meme from a well-liked Gen-Z Fb web page referred to as WittiGenZ not too long ago highlighted allegations of sexual misconduct by a frontrunner of the Nationwide Citizen Celebration (NCP) – a celebration fashioned by Bangladesh’s college students.

What comes subsequent for political artwork in Bangladesh?

Political analysts in Bangladesh consider the instruments that contributed to toppling Sheikh Hasina will proceed to be related within the nation’s future.

“Memes and photograph playing cards in Bangladesh basically do what X does within the West. They supply the simplest short-form political commentary to maximise virality,” mentioned US-based Bangladeshi geopolitical columnist Shafquat Rabbee.

Bangladesh’s central financial institution unveiled new banknote designs impressed by the graffiti created by college students throughout final July’s monsoon rebellion, a nod to the artwork kind’s widespread reputation as a method of political communication.

And rap, Rabbee mentioned, discovered a pure entry in Bangladeshi politics in 2024. In Bangladesh’s context, again in July 2024, political avenue preventing turned a dominant and becoming instrument of protest towards Hasina’s repressive forces, he mentioned.

The artists behind the songs say they by no means anticipated their work to echo throughout Bangladesh.

“I wrote these lyrics myself,” Shezan mentioned, about Kotha Ko. “I didn’t take into consideration how individuals would reply – we merely acted out of a way of duty to what was occurring.”

As with Shezan’s track, fellow rapper Hannan’s Awaaz Utha additionally went viral on-line, particularly on Fb, the identical day – July 18 – that it was launched. “You hit one, 10 extra will come again,” a line mentioned. As Hasina discovered it, they did.

The rappers themselves additionally joined the protests. Hannan was arrested every week after his track’s launch and was solely freed after Hasina resigned and fled to India.

However now, mentioned Shezan, rap was there to remain in Bangladesh’s public life, from promoting jingles to life-style. “Many individuals are consciously or subconsciously embracing hip-hop tradition,” he mentioned.

“The way forward for rap is shiny.”