New Delhi, April 26: The Bangladesh High Commissioner to India, Riaz Hamidullah, expressed his condolences on Sunday following the death of celebrated photographer Raghu Rai.
In a heartfelt message on the social media platform X, Hamidullah wrote, “My dear Raghu Bhai, I will never again hear your touching voice on the phone, greeting me in flawless Urdu and filling my emptiness with your unique affection!” He recalled receiving a call from Rai just two weeks after assuming his post in Delhi in April 2025. “Raghu Bhai, I am daring to call you ‘Bhai,’ I hope you will allow me to do so…”
Hamidullah further shared that Rai had sent him a copy of his book, “Birth of a Nation,” which is based on rare negatives from the 1971 war that he had lost in his collection. “He was one of my childhood heroes. Many young people may not know that in August 1971, Raghu Rai went to Bangladesh to cover the liberation war. He shared with me his experiences of the immense suffering, pain, and humiliation faced by people in war zones, villages, and refugee camps.”
He recounted a harrowing story from Rai about a surprise attack, during which he continued to take photographs despite being hit by shrapnel. “What he witnessed on the ground reminded him of his childhood when his family faced uncertainties while coming to India in 1947, when he was barely five years old. In 1972, the government honored young Raghu Rai with the Padma Shri for his groundbreaking photography of the war.”
Hamidullah noted that since April 2025, Raghu Bhai had embraced him like a younger brother. “A great personality in the world of photography, art, and aesthetics, whenever I called him, he would greet me as if he were hugging me over the phone. It is hard to describe him in words. Raghu Bhai, over eight decades, you touched countless hearts far and wide. You were not just of India, but of the entire world. Farewell, Raghu Bhai. May your soul rest in peace.”
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