Border that bleeds a public campaign

The Bangladesh-India border is one of the deadliest borders in the world, where people are killed regularly. It is a border where a barbed wire fence has been erected, cutting through human relationships. But has this barbed wire truly been able to sever those ties or stop communication? The state system focuses on development, but how many actually care about the people living across the border?
To us, the people of the border are often known as smugglers, traffickers, middlemen, or cattle rustlers. But why do they take this path? Is it merely a tendency toward crime? Or is it perhaps unknown to us that this is their reality? As a result, they are killed without trial by Indian BSF bullets. Sometimes their bodies rot, sometimes hang on the barbed wire, and sometimes remain on the canal banks in the unresolved border areas.
In my over ten years of documentary experience, the most affected are the people at the bottom of society. For them, their courtyards and village marketplaces become the galleries of my exhibitions. I want them to become aware; I want them to reflect. That’s why I traveled to various border areas with my photographs, searching for answers to different questions. I wanted to understand what they perceive as the “border” and what they think of the “state.”
In memory of Felani Khatun, a photography exhibition documenting border violence,2020
Context: The exhibition was organized to commemorate the killing of Felani on January 7, 2011. The BSF shot 15-year-old Felani to death as she was returning home, crossing barbed-wire fences erected by India.
Description: Dhaka University student Nasir Abdullah held a sit-in at the Anti Terrorism Raju Memorial Sculpture for over forty days to protest the killings at the border and demand justice for those affected. In solidarity with this stance and remembrance of Felani on Women’s Day, an exhibition was organised at the Raju Sculpture Centre of Dhaka University. The event aimed to commemorate all citizens martyred at the border, including Felani, while also protesting against border killings.
Location: TSC, Dhaka University, Dhaka
Date: 6-8 March 2020
Hanif's march with symbolic corpses on shoulders
Hanif is a Bangladeshi protester who walked across Bangladesh carrying the symbolic body of Felani on his shoulders, demanding justice for the border killings. In solidarity with him, we walked 40 km with him to document his relationship with his people. My goal was to find out how people view this symbolic body and what their thoughts are on border killings.
25 September 2020. Sathibari, Gaibandha.
In memory of Felani Khatun, a photography exhibition documenting border violence,2021
Context: The exhibition was organized to commemorate the killing of Felani on January 7, 2011. The BSF shot 15-year-old Felani to death as she was returning home, crossing barbed-wire fences erected by India.
Description: January 7 2021 marked the 10th anniversary of Felani Khatun’s death. She was killed by the Border Security Force of India in 2011. The exhibition took place in the courtyard of Felani’s house, where villagers gathered to witness the tragic impact of how innocent people were killed by Indian forces and to understand the daily lives of those living along the border.
Location: Nageshwari,Kurigram
Date: 7 January 2021
Protest against border killing in memory of Felani Khatun,2022
Context: The exhibition was organized to commemorate the killing of Felani on January 7, 2011. The BSF shot 15-year-old Felani to death as she was returning home, crossing barbed-wire fences erected by India.
Description: My friends and colleagues attended the exhibition. We called out the names of those who died in the past year to remember them. Many people in the park came to show their solidarity with us.
Location: Rabindra Sarobar, Dhaka
Date: 7 January 2022
Protest against border killing in memory of Felani Khatun,2023
Context: The exhibition was organized to commemorate the killing of Felani on January 7, 2011. The BSF shot 15-year-old Felani to death as she was returning home, crossing barbed-wire fences erected by India.
Description: The photographs were exhibited at the home yard and family tea stall of the latest victim of the BSF border killing, 20-year-old Bipul Hossain, who was gunned down on the Burimari border under Patgram upazila in Lalmonirhat on the first day of 2023. The exhibition was visited by the family members of Bipul and local people who expressed deep concern about the ongoing border killings.
Location: Patgram, Lalmonirhat
Date: 7 January 2023
Border that bleeds- In memory of Felani,2025
Context: The exhibition was organized to commemorate the killing of Felani on January 7, 2011. The BSF shot 15-year-old Felani to death as she was returning home, crossing barbed-wire fences erected by India.
Location: Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed Park, Gulshan-2, Dhaka
Date: 7-9 January 2025