Page 439 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

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to 15 December no photographer had the
courage to take photographs whilst staying
in the country. Noteworthy photographs of
the nine months of war and bloodshed is
not seen in the works of the amateur,
professional photographers or
photojournalists who resided in the country
at that time.’ The reasons behind these
45
may be that photographers did not possess
the technical facilities on the one hand, also
on the other it was not easy to risk ones life
by taking photographs. Nevertheless, a
number of photojournalists entered the
country in various ways during war for
different international media and took some
photographs. Particularly well documented
is the pitiable condition of the people in
Indian refugee camps. In 1971 the
photographs of the war were published in
different periodicals and newspapers of the
world and built up worldwide public opinion in our favor. Some photographs of the
formation of the Mujibnagar Government and some of its activities, some scattered
camps of freedom fighters, their trainings, their attacks, the people’s resistance etc. are
also to be found. Photographs of the decomposed bodies of the brutally massacred
intellectuals on the very brink of victory and the rows of skeletons discovered in the
mass-graves remind us of that chapter of horror.
2.2 Photographers of the War of Liberation (Photojournalists)
Everybody involved with photojournalism endeavored to photograph the War of
Liberation amidst many adversities. Mohammad Alam, the staff photographer of the
fig. 10.8 (top) Historical Radio and Information Department of the Mujibnagar Government took many
speech of Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
at the Race Course
ground on 7 March
1971, photograph
Rashid Talukder,
© Rashid Talukder
fig. 10.9 (bottom)
Advancing guerilla
freedom fighters,
photograph Mohammad
Alam,
© Mohammad Alam