When a leading newsmagazine sent Dilip Banerjee to cover the developments in Afghanistan days after 9/11, it turned out to be his first international war assignment. Since then, in his three-decade career as a photo journalist, he has covered many a conflict, both domestic and international, but what he saw and captured during that assignment was, in his own words, ‘extraordinary’. “One saw the might of big powers against a war torn country and the ethnic strife among the tribes within Afghanistan,” he reminisces.
“I was fascinated by the stories of struggle and survival of the common people who had not known normalcy for decades. The have-nots of this country would always greet you with warmth and smile, seldom reflecting the tough conditions they lived in.”
Guarding the territory in Shamli, Kabul, 2001
What began as a simple assignment then became a passion that saw him return to Afghanistan at every opportunity. He visited the country half a dozen times between 2001 and 2014, each time learning something new about the society. What interested him the most was how the people picked up threads to rebuild their nation and moved back from broken dwellings to re-constructed homes.
Khawza Bahauddin, 2001
Says Dilip: “With the Talibans moving out, people showed courage and re-established schools, colleges, and even bowling clubs and beauty parlours. A sport stadium which was used by the Taliban to execute people was restored for the sporting community of Kabul. Land areas which were known to be mine fields became agricultural fields again.”
National game Buzkashi returns to Mazar stadium, 2012
He faced many challenges during these trips. He narrates an episode in 2011 when he and a few other photographers crossed the Amudaria river by a barge to enter Afghanistan. They had to enter the country during night, as the border was under attack during the day by the Talibans.
Kids enjoying a football game at Bagram Orphan Camp , 2002
They hired a Russian jeep to travel to the interiors of the country and reached a village called Dasht–e-Qal’eh. Under heavy shelling and bombing from both the Taliban and the Northern Alliance, the village was almost deserted. Their driver stopped somewhere and entered a broken house to find a shelter.
Winter cricket in Kabul, 2013
What they saw next was alarming: the driver was chased by a man carrying a Kalashnikov(Russian rifle). After a scuffle and heated arguments, it turned out that the armed man was the owner of the jeep and later turned out to be a friendly host.
Cheers for winter, Mazar, 2013
Uncertainty of what the next moment would hold as the war progressed was a challenge. But the bigger challenge for Dilip was more internal. He explains: “It is very easy at such places to capture only the negative story of war, disaster and poverty. To maintain balance, look for the hidden positive stories of the people was more demanding.”
