Dec 24 2024 to Dec 24 2024 6:30 p.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

Stories of resilience, hope, and humanity in the face of conflict.

Renowned photojournalist Dilip Banerjee and journalist Aunohita Mojumdar come together for a thoughtful conversation on Dilip’s latest book, Afghanistan: Coexisting with Conflict, moderated by Neena Gopal.

Through a poignant collection of published and personal photographs, Dilip takes us beyond the shock and awe of the two-decade-long US-led fight against the Taliban, documenting the pervasive terror and fleeting joys of Afghan life. His raw, unfiltered images and evocative storytelling reveal the human stories—of love, loss, and resilience—that are often buried beneath the dust and danger of war.

Join us for an evening that reflects on the paradox of promised freedom and enduring strife in Afghanistan, and the enduring hope of its people. The book, Afghanistan: Coexisting with Conflict will be available for sale. The conversation and Q&A will be followed by a book signing with the author.

Speakers
Dilip Banerjee
Photojournalist

Dilip Banerjee was the first Indian photojournalist to cover, from ground-zero, the post-9/11 US-led ‘war on terror’ in Afghanistan against the Taliban. On multiple assignments between 2001 and 2012, Dilip documented militias and soldiers, government officials, service providers, and most of all – ordinary Afghans – in the crosshairs of this longdrawn, devastating conflict. Dilip’s gritty photographs and lived experiences of the everyday lives of these men, women, youth, and children capture their fear and their fervour, their pain and their resolve, and their big and small trials and triumphs – much of it rooted in poverty and hopelessness, yet reminiscent of their millennia-old history and rich, multicultural traditions. Afghanistan, through Dilip’s lenses, is both beautiful and brutal. This collection of 170 photos, personally curated by Dilip, is a chronicle of two decades of local and international effort – and the eventual failure – to secure, for the Afghan people, enduring freedom. Daring, driven, and passionate about his craft, ace photojournalist Dilip Banerjee presents news in its dark intensity, and succinctly unravels the human stories that are so often buried beneath the dust and danger. Write to Dilip at dilip3k@gmail.com.
Aunohita Mojumdar
Journalist

Aunohita Mojumdar is an Indian journalist who has been a reporter and editor for over 30 years. She has lived and worked in Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and India. She has published in numerous regional and international media outlets including The Guardian, Financial Times, BBC, Asia Times, Al Jazeera, Eurasianet, Khaleej Times, Panos, the Hindu, Hindustan Times, Women’s enews, Times of India, Hard News and Civil Society. She was the Editor of the South Asian magazine Himal Southasian. She is currently based in Bangalore.
Neena Gopal
Journalist & Author

A journalist for over thirty years, Neena Gopal began her career in a Bangalore that was the hotbed of post-Emergency politics. Moving to the UAE in the 1980s, she worked for the Dubai-based daily Gulf News where, as foreign editor, she travelled the Middle East during and after Operation Desert Storm, the first Gulf War in 1990, covering war-torn Iraq and its neighbours through the Second Gulf War in 2003. Neena’s news-hunting ground however has been India and its immediate neighbourhood, both as a foreign affairs journalist and as a close observer of the life and times of many leaders in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. She is also the author of the tell all book, The Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.