Two Indian Photojournalists Who Won Pulitzer Prize Recall The Horror Stories Behind The Images

The atrocities faced by the Rohingya Muslim community is known to the world. Every day we see images - with grim faces of the helpless people - that shake us completely. These images are brought to us by dedicated photojournalists who capture the ground reality looking through their high-precision lenses. Two photojournalists among the Reuters team, that has won the Pulitzer Prize in photography for bringing out earth-shaking images from ground zero, spoke to Indiatimes and revealed how it was to be on the duty while the Rohingyas were living in fear.

Adnan Abidi (Left) and Danish Siddiqui. Facebook Images

Danish Siddiqui and Adnan Abidi have become the first Indian photojournalists to win Pulitzer Prize in this category. While journalists across the world are facing criticism for compromising with professional ethics, this is indeed a heartening achievement by Reuters team that includes the Indian duo along with Cathal McNaughton.

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They not only captured the magnitude of the crisis, but the captured the very essence of trauma that Rohingya Muslims are going through, In Myanmar and wherever they have fled.

Danish Siddiqui, who was busy receiving congratulatory calls, remembered travelling to cover the event as the most challenging assignment of his career so far.

¡°This was perhaps the toughest assignment, I have been a part of. I have covered wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, natural calamities in India in Uttrakhand and Nepal, but Rohingya crisis was the toughest to cover because I could see their world being destroyed with fire just the across the river," Danish recalled.

"People were entering Bangladesh when their families were being killed, looted, raped back in Myanmar. Capturing their emotions was indeed a challenge for all of us,¡± he added.

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Adnan Abidi, who also has covered many international events, says that the suffering that was seen first hand can't be explained in words and photographs were the only source to convey a fraction of the pain and agony Rohingyas were experiencing.

¡°Earthquakes and Tsunami too evoked emotions. As journalists, we have seen it all, but Rohingya crisis was a heart-wrenching experience with people pouring in make-shift camps where rain wouldn¡¯t let them settle; Kids crying and dying if not with bullets than due to diseases as it was raining continuously. It was October last year and covering this crisis tested my emotional strength,¡± said Adnan.

Both Danish and Adnan were brought up and trained for photography in the same locality near Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Their neighbourhood and friends are also very happy with their achievement. People are posting messages on social media congratulating them and telling that it's a proud moment for the locality.

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I am recording history

Danish says that is work is just like recording history. He doesn't use words, but he captures emotions. ¡°In a way, I am a historian as well, that¡¯s why I have saved all those emotions exhibited by the people in front of my camera for documentation,¡± he said.

The story behind photographs that received the Prize

There's always a story behind the story that comes in front of the people. The award-winning images also have stories behind them. The winners can't forget the stories that resulted in such remarkable images.

¡°It was November and people were pouring in large numbers. I was done for the day and was busy sipping tea when my translator Mohammed Farooq came rushing and told me a new batch of people has arrived. I grabbed my camera and rushed to the spot. Amid the chaos, I saw this seven-year boy with a big bullet mark on his chest. I knew his picture would do justice to the magnitude of the crisis.

"I asked Farooq to speak to them because neither could I speak Rohingya dialect nor Bengala. After Farooq spoke to them, he narrated that the boy seven-year-old Mohammed Shoaib was shot at by the army in Myanmar. But luckily he survived,¡± said Adnan.

"The picture shows father¡¯s finger caressing the scar left by the bullet in his son¡¯s tiny chest."

Reuters

Danish also recalls how he negotiated with the Bangladeshi officials in order to stay there and take more pictures to record the atrocity.

¡°We were told by Bangladeshi officials that more people are coming. Myanmar was just across the shores of the river and I could see the smoke rising from the villages across the border. I didn¡¯t know whether they were burnt down by the army or other groups, but the smoke and fire were clearly visible," said Danish.

We were ready when the boat stopped and people started deboarding. Suddenly, a woman fell and got up as it was the only choice she had. I clicked the picture and my lenses could capture her misery and pain.

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"And then I saw a father carrying his young son while lifting him with one hand in order to save him from getting drenched. I clicked that too because the smoke ushering across the river from their deserted villages was far more compelling than anything I have ever come across,¡± he added.

He clicked these pictures in September on the banks of river Naf, the maritime boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Their pictures were shown in US Senate as well which led to the various government and non-government bodies from developed countries visiting Bangladesh to see the crisis.