Unit 16 Graffiti English For Today Class 9 10 SSC

 “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable,” writes the pseudonymous street artist Banksy—a sentiment that encapsulates the spirit of graffiti’s defiance.

On 17 July 2024, Abu Sayeed, an unarmed organizer of the student movement for quota reform at Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur, was shot and killed by police as he stood with his arms stretched out, leaving his mother, Monowara Begum, shell-shocked and crying, “My son only wanted a job; if you don’t want to give him a job, then don’t—but why did you kill him?”

Since the 1960s, graffiti in Bangladesh has served as a powerful voice for resistance. In 1966, student activists spray-painted slogans like “Down with Ayub Khan” on walls, using graffiti as a covert means of protest against a repressive regime. When military forces approached, they shouted “chika! chika!”—a word meaning mole or muskrat—pretending they were killing rodents to disguise their actions. This guerrilla tactic marked the beginning of graffiti as a tool of dissent in Bangladesh, and it played a crucial role in the Liberation War in 1971.

In recent times, graffiti has resurfaced as a powerful expression of dissent, particularly during the July uprising. Spray-painted messages - like “The country is nobody’s father” - invoked the legacy of past movements, echoing the iconic “Gonotantra Mukti Paak” (Let Democracy Be Free), famously written on the body of protester Noor Hossain during the Ershad regime. Each stroke of paint carried forward a history of defiance that has shaped Bangladesh’s political landscape, drawing connections between past and present struggles for justice.

Graffiti’s potency lies in its subversive, guerrilla nature. Unlike wall art, which is typically organized and sanctioned, graffiti thrives on immediacy, spontaneity, and the risk of persecution. Where wall art may take time and care, graffiti is often quick, requiring speed and anonymity due to the threat of detection. Its purpose is to challenge power, counter surveillance, and inscribe messages that are otherwise censored or suppressed. 

The July uprising brought new dimensions to this medium of dissent. Spray-painted slogans defied erasure, embodying collective rage and revolutionary solidarity. Demands like “Ek dofa, ek dabi—shoirachar tui kobe jabi?” (One demand, one condition—when will you leave, dictator?) surfaced as cries for justice, echoing the French philosopher Jacques Derrida’s assertion that “What cannot be said... must not be silenced but written.”

A strong sense of inclusivity was also reflected in the wall art and graffiti during and after the July uprising, which highlighted the struggles of marginalized and minoritized people in multiple instances. Numerous graffiti and wall art pieces not only called for justice but also carried a broader message of liberation, “not a land of one nation, Bangladesh is a land of many    communities” symbolizing interconnected struggles of all the communities. It underscored the message i.e. our collective leadership is intertwined, with the fight for justice uniting people across regions and backgrounds.

The true power of graffiti lies in its resilience; it persists as a medium for revolutionary memory and collective consciousness. It speaks for those silenced, ensures the struggles of the marginalized endure, and, as Banksy’s words suggest, comforts the disturbed while disturbing the comfortable.