Pakistani truck artist paints Floyd mural on his home
KARACHI, PAKISTAN—The
brutal killing of George Floyd by police in the United States has sent shock waves across the world, even reaching Pakistan’s southern Sindh province where a truck artist has painted a large mural of the slain AfricanAmerican on a wall of his home.
The 40-year-old artist, Haider Ali, depicted Floyd surrounded by a colourful heart-shaped garland of flowers, with slogans such as #BlackLivesMatter on one side and #justice and #equality on the other.
“This is a message of peace and love to all,” Ali told The Associated Press on Friday, as he put the finishing touches on the mural. “It’s not from an individual, this message of love is from all of Pakistan.”
The mural stands out as a burst of colour on Ali’s porch wall in the southern port city of Karachi. On one side of the portrait, Ali painted candles burning in memory of Floyd and in the upper right-hand corner, an American and Pakistani flag next to one another.
Ali, who said he was in tears when he watched the video of Floyd’s killing, makes his living as a truck artist in Sindh. Truck painting is popular in Pakistan and Ali said he plans to paint more pictures of Floyd on the back of trucks soon. For now, he has been staying at home fearing he could be exposed to the coronavirus if he mingles too much with truckers.
Karachi and the entire Sindh province have been badly affected by the virus. The province alone has reported over 46,800 cases of the virus so far, including 776 deaths from COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. In all of Pakistan, authorities have said there are more than 125,000 cases and 2,463 deaths.
Ali said he believes that Floyd’s killing is not a reflection of American society as a whole, but of the individuals who committed the horrific slaying. “I did not know that there are still a few people in America who can be involved in this kind of brutality,” he said.
He said he has visited 40 states in the U.S., making the trip for the first time when he was 21. “I never faced any discrimination because I am a Muslim or a Pakistani,” he said of the trips.
Being dark-skinned himself, Ali said he has been aware all his life of the many prejudices against people with dark skin in his own homeland. “Racism is more dangerous than coronavirus,” he said.