by Swadesh Roy
( December 16, 2012, Dhaka, Sri Lanka Guardian) It is tough
to express perfectly in words what a photograph can articulate! We journalists
know that sometimes one photograph can articulate what the whole newspaper put
together cannot convey. Hence, whenever there is a crisis of expression, a
picture is preferred over text. And if the photographer is of the stature of
Raghu Rai, he could scale new peaks with his photos.
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The event of 10 million people seeking refuge in India was the outcome of one of the world’s most awful manmade disasters of all times. Since the refugees were poor black Asians, hence it was very tough to draw the attention of the western world.
In our struggle for freedom, some photographers claimed such
lofty peaks. One such was the indomitable Raghu Rai.
Now as Bangladesh is bracing itself to observe the 41
anniversary of its Victory Day on 16th December. However, the people of Bangladesh
start celebrating it from the very first day of December and continue the celebrations
till the end of the month. Besides, this year is to some extent a special year
for Bangladesh because after 41 years, the Bangladeshi people are expecting
that they will soon be successful in punishing the leader of the war criminals
this year; the ones, who had collaborated with the Pakistani army in 1971 to
kill, rape and commit arson in Bangladesh. That year, Bangladesh had failed at
the successful trial of the leader of the Pakistani army, a person who
committed grave crimes against humanity in the country. But after four long
decades, Bangladesh is finally going to successfully punish its war criminals
through a fair judgment. So the average Bangladeshi, basically the younger
generation is in a joyous mood.
They are observing this entire month with various programmes
that were the hallmark of the nation’s struggle for freedom and its subsequent
birth.
The works of Raghu Rai, indeed his charismatic persona, is
at the heart of the freedom struggle of Bangladesh. In 1971 Raghu Rai was a
young photographer of The Statesman, a prestigious and one of the oldest
newspapers of India. What he had done for the freedom struggle, nay the nine
month-long nightmare of the people of Bangladesh, was duly recognised by Indian
government by awarding him with the prestigious `Padmashree’, one of the most
important civilian awards of India. It was his work with on Bangladesh that
helped him achieve the most prestigious award. True, as a press photographer,
it was his part of his professional duty but it cannot be denied that he had
put his heart and soul to it and his work and writings amply reflect. The basic
work of Raghu Rai on the freedom struggle echoes the theme “seeking refuge”. As
is well known, around that time, 10 million Bangladeshis, one-seventh of the country’s
population had to flee the country and take shelter in India as refugees.
The event of 10 million people seeking refuge in India was
the outcome of one of the world’s most awful manmade disasters of all times.
Since the refugees were poor black Asians, hence it was very tough to draw the
attention of the western world. But some noble efforts made the rest of the
world sit up and take notice; one such noble effort was Raghu Rai’s
photography.
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| Raghu Rai |
Today, his photographs are historical documents that stand
testimonial to the enormous sacrifice the people of a nation had to offer in order to
give birth to a new country. There is another side of the coin: the sacrifice
of that the Indians had to make for the 10 million refugees and help in the
birth of a sovereign new nation state as its eastern neighbour. At that time, a
notable American magazine had written that Sheikh Mujibur Rahaman is the father
of this new nation but the then prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi had to
bear the pain of the birth of this baby. The photographs of Raghu Rai on the
freedom struggle, especially the life of refugees document this pain.
However, this 10 million peoples’ nine month ordeal is
basically an untold chapter in Bangladesh.
It is a grave sin and a big mystery as to why this chapter remains an untold
chapter in the history of Bangladesh. There are thousands of books in
Bangladesh that describe the nine- month freedom struggle but basically there
is no book on this 10 million people’s horrifying life of that period. There
are many documentaries that depict how people were fleeing at the attack of the
Pakistani army. But it is a mystery that the Bangladeshi media is not
highlighting the life of the refugees of 1971 who had taken shelter in India.
May be the reason is that, after liberation within three years Bangladesh had
fallen into the hands of the anti-liberation forces who did much confusing
work, and hid many truths. Presumably, things will change for the better in
Bangladesh as the new generation is very much in favor of liberation and they
are the vital players who played a big role in the last elections against the
criminals of war. The latter are now undergoing trial. Besides that, they now
want to know, how people of the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam
helped the Bangladeshi refugees. They want to know everyinch of the history of
the bloody birth of Bangladesh.
In this context, The Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre, Indian
High Commission, Dhaka had arranged an exhibition of Raghu Rai’s photographs at the
Bengal Gallery of fine Arts in Dhaka. The legendary photographer was present to
inaugurate it. A huge number of young people are visiting the exhibition and
observing how petrifying life was for the refugees So, the knowledgeable people
who desire the new generation to know every inch of the glorious sacrifice of
the people of Bangladesh and how India helped us in 1971 are appreciative of
this exhibition. Suffice it to say that this exhibition has opened an untold
chapter in the history of Bangladesh’s agonizing birth and the new generation
of Bangladesh will eventually know the great price their forefathers had to pay
for the freedom of the nation.
Swadesh Roy, Executive Editor, the Janakantha,
Dhaka, Bangladesh and regular with the Sri Lanka Guardian. He can be reached at
swadeshroy@gmail.com
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