DHAKA: A renowned Bangladesh photographer said Sunday he has been the victim of “unwanted cruelty” after being sacked over an image of a couple kissing that raised a social media storm in the conservative Muslim-majority country.
The Purboposhchimbd news portal said Jibon Ahmed was “not fit” to work for the company because of doubts about whether the kiss image was staged.
Ahmed protested his innocence, insisted he has proof the image was spontaneous and said he has been roughed up by other photographers because of the image.
In a Facebook post, Ahmed said he had been “exposed to unwanted cruelty” due to the “powerful” photo.
“I never ever believed that one click would create so many stories. Today due to this photo the social and mainstream media are flooded with false and true stories about me,” he said of the divisions.
The couple were snapped kissing in monsoon rain on the steps of the Dhaka University campus. He posted it — with the caption “Songs of rains — let love be free” — on his Facebook page while the news portal also used it.
The photo quickly went viral in Bangladesh.
It drew social media praise for bringing a hint of social freedom. But conservatives questioned whether the photo had breached Bangladesh’s public decency mores.
Media commenters asked whether Ahmed sought the couple’s permission to publish the photo.
Ahmed — who captured the harrowing aftermath of an attack on a Bangladesh-born US writer hacked to death by Islamist extremists on the Dhaka campus three years ago — said other photographers confronted him over the kiss image.
“They asked me why did I shoot the photo. One of them slapped me during the quarrel,” he told AFP. “I said it was a symbol of pure love.”
After publishing the photo, Purboposhchimbd later wrote an article saying it believed the photo was “preplanned” and the photographer had “apologized.”
The editor, Khujista Nur-e-Naharin, said the company asked Ahmed to take legal action against the photographers who allegedly beat him but he did not turn up for a meeting to discuss the issue.
She also said there were suspicions the photo was staged with “models” and that Ahmed was not “fit” to work for the news portal.
“We have asked him many times to come and explain why he was roughed up and why he had said sorry to the photographers and whether models were used for the photo. He did not communicate with me. He dented our honor,” she told AFP.
Ahmed, who said he was sacked, rejected the employer’s criticism, and insisted he has proof that that the image was “natural.” He said his conscience would not let him sue his fellow journalists.
The couple in the photo have not made any public comment.
Bangladesh photographer sacked over viral kiss photo
Bangladesh photographer sacked over viral kiss photo
- The couple were snapped kissing in monsoon rain on the steps of the Dhaka University campus
- I never ever believed that one click would create so many stories
Cambodia takes back looted historic artifacts handled by British art dealer
- The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodian officials on Friday received more than six dozen historic artifacts described as part of the country’s cultural heritage that had been looted during decades of war and instability.
At a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Hun Many, the 74 items were unveiled at the National Museum in Phnom Penh after their repatriation from the United Kingdom.
The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia.
“This substantial restitution represents one of the most important returns of Khmer cultural heritage in recent years, following major repatriations in 2021 and 2023 from the same collection,” the Culture Ministry said in a statement. “It marks a significant step forward in Cambodia’s continued efforts to recover, preserve, and restore its ancestral legacy for future generations.”
The artifacts were described as dating from the pre-Angkorian period through the height of the Angkor Empire, including “monumental sandstone sculptures, refined bronze works, and significant ritual objects.” The Angkor Empire, which extended from the ninth to the 15th century, is best known for the Angkor Wat archaeological site, the nation’s biggest tourist attraction.
Latchford was a prominent antiquities dealer who allegedly orchestrated an operation to sell looted Cambodian sculptures on the international market.
From 1970 to the 1980s, during Cambodia’s civil wars and the communist Khmer Rouge ‘s brutal reign, organized looting networks sent artifacts to Latchford, who then sold them to Western collectors, dealers, and institutions. These pieces were often physically damaged, having been pried off temple walls or other structures by the looters.
Latchford was indicted in a New York federal court in 2019 on charges including wire fraud and conspiracy. He died in 2020, aged 88, before he could be extradited to face charges.
Cambodia, like neighboring Thailand, has benefited from a trend in recent decades involving the repatriation of art and archaeological treasures. These include ancient Asian artworks as well as pieces lost or stolen during turmoil in places such as Syria, Iraq and Nazi-occupied Europe. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the prominent institutions that has been returning illegally smuggled art, including to Cambodia.
“The ancient artifacts created and preserved by our ancestors are now being returned to Cambodia, bringing warmth and joy, following the country’s return to peace,” said Hun Many, who is the younger brother of Prime Minister Hun Manet.
