Photo Exhibition on the Travails of War from Tod
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An exhibition of photographs by Dr Santhosh Kumar, a medico involved in rehabilitation works in various nations, portraying the miseries of conflicts and emphasising the need for humanitarian acts to bring down the pain of people in war-torn areas, will be inaugurated on Tuesday by Minister M K Muneer.
Dr Santhosh Kumar, assistant professor at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, was the part of RESQ, an NGO devoted to humanitarian work in war-torn countries like Sudan, Iraq and Libya.
After associating with RESQ, a voluntary organisation, he had travelled to various conflict zones across the globe.
It was during these period that he began to think about using the camera to educate people about wars and its painful impact on the lives of thousands of people. ‘’War has unleashed havoc in many parts of the world, be it in Sudan or Bosnia. Many often fail to realise that the victims of conflicts go through unimaginable hardships.
A lot has to be done to protect the lives and provide humanitarian assistance to the affected communities. Kerala with hundreds of medical practitioners and medical staff can create its own impact in providing humanitarian aid. But, unfortunately many are reluctant to enter the field. This mindset has to be change,’’ Santhosh said, elaborating on the reason for holding the exhibition in the city.
Around 150 photographs, taken from Libya, will be exhibited at VJT hall here. The photos will be have a brief description of the events. The frames will be aligned in such a way so as to convey the ground reality in conflict zones.
‘’I remember the photo of Dr Omar and his family which were taken before the killing of his wife and his younger child. Both were looking out of the window of their house when bullets which fell from the air owing to gravity, hit them killing them instantaneously. It was later confirmed that the bullets were fired in the air as part of war custom, by armed militias in Libya,’’ he said.
The exhibition will be inaugurated by Muneer in the presence of K N Balagopal MP.
On Wednesday, films on ‘war surgery and ballistics’ will be screened. A symposium on war surgeries will be held on Thursday.