Chicago is being sued for an honorary renaming of a street after Bangladesh’s former president, with the suit claiming the move honored a ruthless dictator.

Ziaur Rahman, known in Bangladesh as Zia, served as president of the South Asian nation from 1977 until his assassination in 1981. The city dedicated the 6700 block of North Clark as “Ziaur Rahman Way” on September 14. But members of the Coalition for Asian American Friendship objected to the honor, comparing Rahman to Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Chile’s Augusto Pinochet.

The organization sued the city on September 23 in Cook County Court demanding the sign come down. “Said sign has been erected to honor a dictator that oppressed the people of Bangladesh,” the complaint states, adding the municipal dedication represents “an affront to the Bangladeshi Community of Chicago.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Chicagoans Fight Dictator’s Street Sign (by Lorraine Bailey, Courthouse News Service)

Case Against ‘Ziaur Rahman Way’ in Chicago (by Shihabuddin Kislu, Bangla News)

“Anti-Soviet” Restaurant Forced to Change Name (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)