Guns or Roses?

If you fancy bit of both, don't miss this bang on target photo show in town

If you fancy bit of both, don't miss this bang on target photo show in townu00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0

12 Indians are shot dead every day. Worldwide, the death toll from small arms in most years is more than the toll of atomic bombings that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and several surveys reveal that 90 per cent of Indian want a control onu00a0 trade of arms still the fight to fire more bullets, more quickly and with greater range and accuracy doesn't seem to vanish anytime soon. Why is peace so easy to understand but hard to find? A photo exhibition has the answers. A Farewell to Arms: An exhibition documenting the human cost of arms proliferation and urgent call to support UN Process for an International Arms Trade Treaty is for everyone who's ready to bite the bullet.

Ratan Luwangcha captures the mood of heavily armed members of the Manipur People's Liberation Front along the Indi-Burma Border

Eastern fascination

The exhibition features entries from 14 renowned photographers from across India including the first time display of images taken in Manipur in 2008 by India's legendary photographer, Shri Raghu Rai. It showcases the works of photographers from Jammu and Kashmir, the Naxal region, Northeast India and other parts of India affected by unregulated arms trade. Ace photographer Raghu Rai, whose works too feature in the exhibition, says, "The governments should make sure that arms and ammunition don't fall in the hands of terrorists and criminals." Adding to it, the organiser of the expo and the secretary general, Control Arms Foundation of India says, "The international arms trade is out of control. The United Nations estimates that 500,000 people are killed each year due to small arms violence. Many of the victims are women and children. This illustrates the need for an Arms Trade Treaty, without which more lives will be lost." The exhibition brings to light the fact that how armed violence has come closer to our homes and has become an universal phenomenon.

A pic of a bullet dumpyard by Javeed Shah	A lady blocks rebels in this Nagaland Post pic

Smiles to gou00a0
Recounting his experience of photographing in Kashmir, participating photog Javeed Shah puts forth, "Shooting wailing mothers, dead youth, scary scenes and crying children with time I learned to hide myself behind the camera and take things as mere subject in front of my camera. For years, I have only seen grief that these arms and explosions brought to my valley. But now I want to capture the smiling faces." The show is an excellent stage for photographers who've clicked for righteous causes.u00a0 Ramakanta Dey, a photographer from a remote area of Northeast India says, "For clickers from our side, it's a tedious,u00a0 rather impossible task to conduct an exhibition in Delhi or other parts of the world. Here's the right platform."

A Farewell To Arms
Where: Convention Centre, Indian Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road
On till: August 23
Timings: 10 amu00a0to 8 pm