Arifur Rahman

Early life

Arifur Rahman was born in a small village called Tetiar Kanda in Shahjadpur, Sirajganj, Bangladesh. When Arifur Rahman was in the Preschool, Arif's father left his wife and children and remarried. Arif's parents got divorced afterward and his mother went back to her family's village, taking Arif and his sister along. They were broke and his mother was depressed. Whatever she was to inherit from her father had already been given to her husband in dowry, so she had nothing to get by. Arif, with his mother and sister, lived in a room with their grandmother. Arif's maternal grandfather was a pious man and had two wives. Arif's mother was among the children from his first marriage, but he had come to live with his second wife during those years. It meant he barely saw his first wife. Arif was enrolled in the a nearby school there.

Arif and his family struggled for money. His mother started farming chickens for some pocket money. His uncles and aunts helped out by gifting Arif's mother goat and sheep cubs and he used to take care of the cattle when he returned from school. Arif went to a village school back then, which was far away from his grandfather's house. Arif had to walk a very long way to go to school every day. Their village did not yet have access to electricity so, in the evening, he had to study by the tame flame of a kerosene lamp. He was a self-taught cartoonist and started drawing at an early age. His first cartoon was published in 2004 in a satire magazine called Bichhu by the Daily Jugantor. Every day, he drew cartoons and sent them to the newspapers for publishing. That is how he created a name for himself as a cartoonist.

Education

He studied both in Bangladesh and in Norway.

2001–06, Arifur Rahman studied for a Bachelor of Arts at the National University of Bangladesh.

2012-13 studied Visual Arts at Nansen Academy, Lillehammer, Norway.

2014-16 studied 3D and Animation at Kristiania University College, Oslo, Norway.

Cartooning in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, he was famously known as "Cartoonist Arif." In April 2004, Arif's cartoon was published in the satire magazine, "Bicchu" under the Daily Jugantor. Since then, he has been drawing political satire cartoons and comic strips instead of paintings. He drew every day and sent his work off to newspapers. Almost all the daily newspapers in Bangladesh regularly published his cartoons back in the day. During 2004–2007, he drew a large number of cartoons for various Bangladeshi newspapers, such as The Daily Jugantar, Bhorer Kagoj, Samakal, Jaijaidin, Amar Desh, Ittefaq and Prothom Alo. He was noticed by people and known as "Cartoonist Arif" around Bangladesh. He was recognized by fellow and legendary Bangladeshi cartoonists like Rafiqun Nabi, Shishir Bhattacharjee, and Ahsan Habib.

In 2005, Rahman won the third prize in a contest titled Pin Hunt that was put on by The Daily Prothom Alo's periodical, Alpin (আলপিন), and won third prize in the Anti-Corruption Cartoon Competition arranged by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) in 2006, as well as first prize in the Anti-Corruption Cartoon Competition arranged by The Daily Star in 2007 and in the same year, The Daily Prothom Alo appointed him to draw cartoons as a contributing cartoonist.

Children in War

In 2015, organized the International Cartoon Exhibition "Children in War" to focus on the suffering of children in war and conflict areas, such as in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq. One hundred and twenty-eight cartoonists participated in 51 different countries. On 10 September 2015, the exhibition was opened by Bishop Atle Sommerfeldt in The Norwegian Cartoonist Gallery (Avistegnernes Hus), Drøbak. It was a moving exhibition, which was exhibited in Oslo, Nesodden, Bergen, Stavanger, Haugesund, Kristiansand in Norway, and Norrköping, Sweden. The event was supported by The Norwegian Cartoonist Gallery and Fritt Ord.

In 2018, Arifur Rahman became a member of the Socialist Left Party of Norway. He was elected deputy of the local party committee and was nominated as a candidate in the Frogn Municipality election 2019.

Arifur Rahman's cartoons were regularly published in the satirical weekly supplement of the Prothom Alo newspaper, Alpin, but the one published in the 17 September 2007 edition stirred quite a bit of controversy. The cartoon features a conversation between a little boy and an older man. The cartoon offended religious sentiments and Arif was sued for his cartoon. Some people led by acclaimed religious influencers chose to call for a nationwide strike in Bangladesh on the back of the incident. Alpin was discontinued and the editor, Sumanta Alam, was fired, effective immediately. The editor of Prothom Alo, Matiur Rahman promised never to publish Arifur Rahman's cartoon in his newspaper again. Arif was arrested one day later on September 18, from his residence in Dhaka. He was arrested for being a "traitor" and for "hurting the religious sentiments" under the blasphemy and emergency law of Bangladesh.

Trial and Asylum to Norway

Imprisoned on 18 September 2007, Arifur Rahman stayed in prison for six months and 2 days. While in prison, Arif was heartbroken and felt very helpless. He felt wronged by his people and the country. He decided while sitting behind the bars that he would create a platform for the artists and art enthusiasts where they could express their talent and enjoy mindful art without any limitations or without the fear of being misunderstood, wrongfully judged or censored.

On 4 February 2008, the High Court ruled Arif's detention illegal, dropped all charges brought against him and ordered his immediate release. But he was not released right away. He was finally freed on 20 March 2008, but the struggle continued for Arif as he found it hard to pursue his cartooning dreams like he used to. He could not continue his studies due to the scandal as universities would not admit him because of his controversial background. In 2009, another case was filed against him in a court in Jessore, Khulna for the very same cartoon published in 2007. The court in Jessore sentenced him to two months of rigorous imprisonment and fined him 500 Bangladeshi Taka, or another seven days in prison for impiety.

Many Bangladeshi newspapers refused to publish any more of Arif's cartoons but some of them, the likes of The Daily Ittefaq and The Daily Prothom Alo, however, agreed to publish them under a pseudonym. Arif was disheartened with that turn of events. His desire to create an uncensorable cartooning platform only got stronger with these unpleasant incidents fanning the fire.

In 2010, the Government of Norway willingly granted Arif political asylum as his life came to a standstill in Bangladesh and his life was under constant threat. Arif wanted to stay back in Bangladesh but he was not able to because of his controversy, as he was labeled by his 2007 scandal. Arif also came to fear for his life as one threat after another kept on coming in all shapes and forms. He had no option but to emigrate to Norway on 30 November 2010, and start a new life there for himself and his ambitions. He cannot enter Bangladesh ever again without being prosecuted.