Mehedi Haque: They drew bullets when live bullets were fired
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Daily New Age political cartoonist Mehedi Haque reflects on what it was like to draw political cartoons in Bangladesh during the student-led protests and the government’s violent crackdown during the 2024 revolution, which eventually resulted in the ousting of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Over the past year, people never shied away from reminding me that drawing political cartoons is risky, but I dismissed it. Not because I was unaware of the risks, but because I knew fear was contagious. When you are among the few continuing to work despite the risks, it would not bode well to tell everyone that you are afraid. For the youth aspiring to be cartoonists in the future, I thought facing it all with a smile was crucial. Instead of allowing fear to grow, it’s important to keep drawing. I thought, in the face of fear, putting down my pen is not my option; I may not always be able to draw exactly what I imagined. There are times in an artist’s life when an artist learns to be strategic, but we all know that, equipped with satire and wit, a cartoon is always a playfully strategic form of art. I also know well that the work of an artist is never easy. Artist should, at least that’s what I think, carry some unease within. Let the legal notice keep coming to the artist’s way. Let the rogue and crooks throw swears at the artist for what s/he drew.
For background, the Hasina administration passed the Digital Security Act in 2018, which was used to arrest and target journalists, cartoonists, and writers critical of the government. In July 2024, demonstrations erupted when students challenged a controversial quota system for government jobs that primarily benefited Hasina’s supporters. Artists and cartoonists took to social media to amplify dissent, using their work to spotlight issues like corruption and authoritarianism. Hasina was ousted in August.
Mehedi gives much of the credit to the younger generation.
To conclude, I return the question that I mentioned earlier in this piece: why and how do we continue to do political cartooning in an environment of heightened risk, and the Gen-Z cartoonists answered with works in hundreds and posted them on social media, knowing well that the law enforcement agencies in plain clothes could knock at their doors any moment. They drew bullets when live bullets were fired, killing more than a thousand. This has always been the case — people rise to the occasion when necessary. Hail to the youth, and long live Generation Z.
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