Riz Ahmed lauds Pakistani truck artist

British-Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed recently took to Twitter and shared the work of Pakistani truck artist Haider Ali. The Sound of Metal actor shared a photo of a mural that Haider had painted at his home, which depicts the late George Floyd, who was murdered in an act of racial violence in May last year. the culprit was identified as policeman Derek Chauvin from Minneapolis. The murder set off a wave of protests across the country and triggered several conversations about race across the world, which culminated in the trial of the police officer. He captioned the picture “Pakistani truck art”.

Last June, Haider decided to show his solidarity with the slain man in traditional Pakistani form, dedicating a whole wall to him in a truck art style mural that features a special saying. "Hum kaaley hain tou kia hua, dil waley hain (So what if we're dark-skinned? We've got big hearts)," reads the mural. It also features another saying that goes, "Goron ki na kaalon ki, Dunya dil walon ki’ (This world belongs neither to whites or blacks, it's only for those with big hearts)."

Three other words stand out on Haider's mural. 'Adal, Insaaf, Barabari' that translate to justice and equality, respectively. According to Haider, the starry night background symbolises the importance of the colour black itself. The dark night enables us to see the stars and every artist knows the all-around importance of black in the universe.

Haider's mural is not only a testament to George Floyd's legacy, but also a dedication to all those individuals around the world who are fighting inequality and injustice. This, for Haider, also include the religious minorities (Muslims) in Indian Occupied Kashmir, Palestine and Myanmar, who are regularly subjected to cruelty on the basis of religion, and are tortured and killed.