Death of artists prompts exhibition on the theme of liberation by Shahabuddin Ahmed

At a recent exhibition in Mumbai’s Jehangir Art Gallery, Bangladeshi artist Shahabuddin Ahmed showcased his paintings based on the theme of liberation. It’s not surprising that the painter chooses this subject time and again in his oeuvre because he had taken part in the Liberation War along with Bangladesh’s father figure and liberator Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, popularly known as Bangabandhu.
As platoon commander, Shahabuddin, as he’s known, played a major role in the liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistan, a country that had threatened the artist’s identity and artistic freedom. Hence, liberation is a leitmotif that he swears by and doles out freely, either in his paintings of Bangabandhu and Gandhi or in his depiction of the man freeing himself from the clutches of bondage in his Freedom and Veneration series. (Bondage here is the subjugation of the pre-liberated East Pakistani Bengali by the West Pakistani master who constantly torments the subject.)

The artist, who made Paris his home after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975, finds it extremely ironic that the liberation for which the country fought in 1971 is now coming at a cost for its free thinkers. In the past one-and-a-half years, about 10 bloggers have been hacked to death by machete-wielding extremists or gunned down for expressing their opinions freely. These bloggers spoke against the terrors of the modern world, which drew the ire of Islamic fundamentalists.

On July 1, armed militants stormed the Cafe Artisan Holey, a restaurant in an upscale neighbourhood in Dhaka, took the diners as hostages and killed many of them, including foreigners. The militants claimed to be members of the ISIS-affiliated Ansarullah Bangla team. The growing violence in Bangladesh raises questions about the freedom of its citizens.

How do artists express themselves in this perilous environment? What is the idea of Bangladesh today? “The idea of Bangladesh was successful after the Liberation War and again was not successful. But we got a strong smell of victory, which still remains,” said Shahabuddin.

Hussain Muhammad Ershad, who became president of Bangladesh in 1983, wanted to convert the country into a nation of Islamists, but he was not successful, said the 65-year-old painter.

“But I am confident with the Sheikh Hasina government, who is doing her best to control the fringe groups,” he said. The reason behind Shahabuddin’s confidence is the comeback of the Hasina government and her initiative at Shahbag, Dhaka, where capital punishment was awarded by the International Crimes Tribunal for those convicted of war crimes during the Bangladesh Liberation War. This was absolutely unbelievable in Bangladesh, the artist said.

“There are very few countries in the world that are as poor as Bangladesh, so the government is at times incapable of handling too many things. But Bangladesh is ruled by a destiny. And destiny wanted Hasina to come back a second time. No matter how much the fringe groups may try, they will never succeed in silencing the voice of freedom,” said Shahabuddin.

The picture, however, is grim. Along with the killing of the bloggers in Bangladesh, there’s been a rise in Islamist violence in which liberal activists, members of minority Muslim sects and other religious groups have been targeted. All this makes Shahabuddin scared to go back to his homeland. “The violence against bloggers is perpetrated by some sick groups. But I believe that with time, India and Bangladesh will devise a formula to contain this sickness that puts religion ahead of everything. Mujib fought for language. That language will never perish,” he said.

Militants have targeted secularist writers in Bangladesh in recent years, while the government has tried to crack down on hard-line Islamist groups that aspire to make the South Asian nation of 160 million people a Sharia-based state. Hence, not all artists are optimistic about the future of Bangladesh’s liberals. Artist Farida Zaman said Bangladesh is going through a crisis. Advocates of free speech are at risk.

Though Zaman has not personally faced any threat, the artist said she has taken part in many anti-violence meetings and seminars organised by Charukala, as the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Dhaka is known.

“Right now, I see a far more dangerous society than what prevailed before the days of the Liberation War. There is a reflection of the pre-1971 days on the present society, when free speech was being curbed. Things are scarier now, with the growing population along with lack of education and opportunities,” said Zaman. “As artists, we too talk about a free society through our paintbrush. We have so far not faced any threat, but who knows, it may come to us any day.”

There may be a difference of opinions, but nobody has the right to kill anybody and by doing so, cannot kill an idea or a voice, the artist said.

According to Zaman, it’s strange that Bangladesh, which started off as a new nation by fighting for the mother tongue and protested vehemently against the atrocities of West Pakistan (which thwarted to kill the Bengali language and whose only commonality with erstwhile East Pakistan was Islam), should consider religion higher than anything.

Artist Ranjit Das said Bangladesh is going through a very trying and sensitive phase. Although the Awami League government is taking enough steps to curb violence against free thinkers, fundamentalists are ruling the roost. “Religious fundamentalists have spread across districts and villages, though there are still many people who don’t attach greater importance to religion than it deserves,” said Das, a Hindu.

“We artists are always against violence and will always remain like that. We have taken part in peace rallies, discussed the growing violence whenever we have met, but a lot more needs to be done.” Das said the general public of Bangladesh needs to be sensitised. They are too scared to come forward. Artists are creating new abstract forms of art, but that is not reaching out to the masses.

“I have never faced any threat from fringe groups and in spite of being a Hindu residing in Bangladesh, I never faced any discrimination. I believe minorities across the world suffer from inferiority complex. But that has never been my case because I don’t attach too much importance to religion,” said Das. “Things were far worse in 1971, when we were fighting for our identity and our language. I can say that no matter what anyone may try, our language and culture won’t vanish. It will remain the core of our nation. Islam cannot alone define the character of our country,” he said.

If the Bangladesh government comes forward and assures artists safety, they can freely spread the message of peace through art and reach out to the masses, said Das. According to artist Sheikh Afzal Hussein, the art fraternity is always protesting against violence.

“We also have faced threats from fringe groups in the past. But the Awami League government is taking steps to prevent violence. It is against any kind of violence on the people of Bangladesh,” said Hussein.

“During the Liberation War, artists raised their voices and also depicted their protests through their paintings, in spite of the torment inflicted upon the artists and the intellectual community. Now, there seems to be a strain of intolerance, prevalent during the militant regime of the pre-1971 days, on the present society,” said Hussein. Society has to become aware. Most people avoid getting involved in any kind of trouble, but they must become more aware in order to attain a free society, he said. The attacks on bloggers are carried out by fringe groups, which claim to be members of ISIS, but that may not be the truth, said Hussein. Shahabuddin said artists in Bangladesh are scared now.

“We artists have to be careful. But the general population is not reacting to the violence. Those who kill are cowards. We need people like Mandela and Gandhi now,” he said. His plea to Sheikh Hasina is to bring back secularism, just the way her father fought for it and brought it to Bangladesh.

Shahabuddin said he would love to return to Bangladesh one day, although he admits his motherland may not provide him with the opportunity and the artistic environment that he yearned for in his childhood.