KATHMANDU: Nepalaya’s travelling photo exhibition in Nepalgunj was inaugurated on April 14 by Ramkrishni Chaudhary, whose son Bhaban was detained by the army in Bardiya three years ago and has never been seen again.

According to a Nepalaya press statement, Chaudhary was teary eyed when she was asked to unveil a portrait of herself that was the first photograph on display.

“I am still hopeful, but I have looked everywhere for him, where else can I look,” the statement quoted Chaudhary as telling reporters after the opening.

More than 900 people were disappeared by both sides during the 10-year conflict, according to official statistics, but despite efforts by the UN, human rights organisations and the ICRC, the whereabouts of most are still unknown.

“I just want to know whether my son is alive and dead,” said Chaudhary.

The exhibition has been staged in six towns and cities across Nepal and will travel on to Dhangadi, Tansen, Pokhara and Kathmandu.

The pictures on display are mostly from Kunda Dixit’s picture book A People War, which was published by nepa~laya in December 2006 and contains 180 images from the insurgency.

The exhibitions are mostly held inside buildings destroyed during the war, like the Bal Mandir in Ilam, the District Hospital in Chautara and are inaugurated by local people who are portrayed in the pictures on display.

“Everywhere we have gone, the message from the people after seeing the pictures is: violence doesn’t resolve anything and the hope that Nepalis will not have see such carnage again in future,” said the statement quoting Dixit. In addition to the exhibitions, Nepalaya is also giving free copies of the book to community libraries, schools and colleges along the way.