This presentation analyzes the Deyal Likhon wall paintings created by Bangladeshi youth during the July Revolution 2024, exploring how these murals reflect the movement's demands, emotional intensity, and unique blend of national ideology and Generation Z's global awareness.

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM (Pacific Time)
Haines 352 (Reading Room) & online

ABOUT THE PRESENTATION

In July 2024, the student movement in Bangladesh made an international headline when, a month later, on August 5th, it forced the former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, to resign from her position. The movement was primarily triggered by a specific demand from the student body to reform the quota system of the Bangladesh Civil Service. The system had preserved a thirty percent preference for the children and grandchildren of veterans of the 1971 Independence War, “freedom fighters.” The background to this demand is rooted in the context of Bangladesh’s economic growth, which has not been accompanied by sufficient employment opportunities for higher-educated youth. 
However, what factors contributed to the expansion of the “2024 Bangladesh Quota Reform Movement” into the “July Revolution 2024,” a movement that engaged a significant portion of the citizens and ultimately led to the withdrawal of the government? 
In this presentation, I would like to introduce my analysis of the wall paintings called Deyal Likhon which were drawn by the youth immediately following the political fluctuation. What were the specific issues that incited their anger, what demands did they put forth, and what were their objectives throughout the movement? The emotional expression depicted in the murals represents the spontaneous drive of the youth, yet the manner in which it is expressed is imbued with the national ideology of Bangladesh, which they may have studied and learned in the history of 1971. Additionally, the contents display a pronounced blend of global awareness and nationalism that could be characteristic of Generation Z.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Kazuyo Minamide, PhD. is a cultural anthropologist and associate professor teaching global studies at Kobe College, Japan. Received PhD from Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI) in 2007. She has been conducting ethnographic research with children on their socialization and education in Bangladesh’s rural settings since 2000 and following up their lives till to date. Her publications in Bangladesh context among others include Anthropology of ‘Child-sphere’: Children in a Bangladesh’s Rural Society (2014, Kyoto: Showa-do, in Japanese) and an edited book Millennial Generation in Bangladesh: Their Life Strategies, Movements, and Identity Politics (2021, Dhaka: UPL). She has made several ethnographic films including Circumcision in Transition (2006, 36min.); The First Educated Generation: from Childhood to Adolescence (2016, 52 min.). Her work has been acknowledged with several awards including Daido Life Foundation Incentive Award for Area Studies in 2020.

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Sponsor(s): Center for India and South Asia, Anthropology