Chattogram City Mayor Dr Shahadat Hossain has said that the photographs of the July Uprising will serve as testimony to history and a powerful reminder of the nation’s struggle.
He made the remarks while inaugurating a three-day photo exhibition titled ‘July Revolution on Camera’ at the VIP Lounge of Chattogram Press Club at 11 am on Saturday.
“We refer to July-August as a 36-day revolution. But the incidents of enforced disappearances, murders, and extrajudicial killings during this period reflect not just 36 days-but the oppression of the last 16 years,” said Dr Shahadat. “It would be a grave injustice to forget the martyrs of that time.”
The city mayor added that people hold deep respect for those who sacrificed their lives in the struggle to establish democracy.
“In the last 15 and a half years, many people were subjected to political persecution, disappearances, and killings. The July Revolution was a thunderous protest against that injustice,” he said.
The exhibition showcases 160 photographs taken in Dhaka and Chattogram, documenting scenes of political oppression, enforced disappearances, and killings during the July-August movement.
The event was presided over by Jahidul Karim Kochi, member secretary of the interim committee of Chattogram Press Club.
Among others, AKM Mohsin, President of the Bangladesh Photojournalist Association; Nuruddin Ahmed, personal photographer to former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia; Bulbul Ahmed, former president of the Bangladesh Photojournalist Association; Osman Gani Mansur, Editor of The People’s View; Shamsul Haque Hydari, NTV Bureau Chief; Mustafa Naeem, Kaler Kantho Bureau Chief; Babul Talukder, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Photojournalist Association; Sale Noman, General Secretary of the Chattogram Metropolitan Journalists Union; Meah Mohammad Arif, Special Correspondent of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha; and Md Mostafizur Rahman, President of the Chattogram Photojournalist Association spoke on the occasion.
