Entertainment Desk:

Liakat Ali Lucky, who had held onto the post of director general at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy for a decade, has resigned from the role after the fall of the government.

Liakat turned in his resignation papers to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs on Monday, said Shilpakala Academy Secretary Salahuddin Ahmed.

“I came to the ministry. After coming here I learned that Director General Liakat Ali Lucky has resigned.”

Asked about the matter, Khalil Ahmed, cultural affairs secretary, said: “Liakat Ali Lucky sent us his resignation papers on WhatsApp.”

Liakat was appointed as the director general of the organisation on Apr 7, 2011. His tenure was extended for a seventh time on Mar 29, 2023. No one else has stayed in the role for as long a time.

His extended tenure as the head of Shilpakala Academy had led to complaints in the cultural sector. The Anti-Corruption Commission questioned him over allegations of corruption.

Liakat is also the president of the Bangladesh Group Theatre Federation. He came under fire for the dismissal of the federation’s general secretary Kamal Bayezid. In response, the federation left the Dhaka Theatre.

Last June, a group of cultural activists protesting under the banner of ‘Common Theatre Workers’ had called for Liakat’s removal, but he did not accede to their demands.

Following the fall of the government on Aug 5 in the face of mass protests, a wave of change has come about in the leadership of various public and private institutions. Officials from various public and private institutions, the media, the judiciary, legal associations, and the vice chancellors of several universities have resigned.

The day after Sheikh Hasina resigned her premiership and left the country, agitated officials locked the rooms of at least 15 officials, including the office of the director general, at Shilpakala Academy. They demanded that Liakat’s ‘corrupt’ record not be swept under the rug and for action to be taken against it