The Price of Freedom

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Raghu Rai has been a Magnum photographer since 1997, when he was nominated to the world’s most prestigious photographer’s cooperative by the legendary photographer Henri Cartier Bresson. His work has appeared in international publication such as Time, The New York Times, Sunday Times, National Geographic, GEO, The New Yorker and others.

For the last thirty years, he has been exhibiting in major cities throughout the world and has won numerous awards. Twenty-five of his photographs are in the permanent collection of the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, while India has honoured him with the Padam Shri, one of the country’s highest civilian awards. He has also appeared on the jury for the World Press Photo Contest three times. Rai has published more than thirty books of his photographs.

In early 1971, when negotiations for autonomous East Bengal broke down, brutalities against the citizens of erstwhile East Pakistan led to a mass exodus of refugees into India. Despite an international outcry, the assaults and rapes continued. With the intervention of the Indian Armed Forces in December 1971, after nine months of violence and uncertainty and a twelve-day war between India and Pakistan, the independent nation of Bangladesh was born.

Ace photographer Ragu Rai documented the plight of the refugees, the action during the war and the jubilant scenes of victory and Independence. His treasure trove of photographs, which for over four decades he thought had been lost, was recently rediscovered. The stories are by a master storyteller-the refugee camps, the exodus, the never-ending journey, a whirlwind of poignant, tormented history. And finally, a new nation, a new tomorrow.

Bangladesh: The Price of Freedom are never before seen photographs which comprise a significant body of work documenting a turning point in the history of South Asia.