NEW DELHI: A photo exhibition that vividly depicts the decade long Maoist insurgency kicked off here in the art gallery of India International Centre today.

Of the 180 photographs, 46 photos from the book A People War have been put up in the

Senior Nepali journalist Kunda Dixit — author of the book — who is also the editor of weekly English magazine Nepali Times, inaugurated the week-long event.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, India’s former ambassador to Nepal, Dev Mukherjee, a few pictures shot during the decade long Maoist war were ample enough to depict the sufferings that the Nepali people underwent.

Dixit said though the formal war ended with the signing of peace process, people’s sufferings — particularly of those who directly faced the brunt of the war and who lost their loved ones — are still intact. “Physical and emotional healing to their wounds could only bring real peace in the nation,” he added.

“We, in the media, counted the bodies of the killed, wrote about spate of violence, but are least bothered as to how to deal with those traumatised people and make them forget their scars,” Dixit said.

He said the exhibition would spread a message in India as the country was still battling with such problems of violence in different areas.

Mukherjee opined that those pictures gave a clear message that violence was bad whatsoever.

The organisers will also screen “Frames of War”, a television documentary based on Dixit’s book.

India’s ambassador to Nepal, Rakesh Sood, and former ambassador to Nepal, KV Rajan, also visited the exhibition. Dozens of Nepali nationals residing in India and locals visited the exhibition.

This is the second such international exhibition after Dhaka. Dixit had organised similar exhibitions in 32 districts across Nepal.