Kashmiri Pathan, a photo from Jammu and Kashmir, North

Photographer's Note

In 1948, the Pakistan civilian government was totally ignorant of the Kashmir invasion, planned by hoardes of lawless tribesmen of the NWF, who indulged in murder and looting as they moved into the territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir was then not a part of India. Maharaja Hari Singh then ruler of Jammu Kashmir had not decided whether Kashmir would be independent or be part of India or Pakistan. Khurshid Anwar, an ex-army officer, who was killed in the operation, was supposed to be the main organiser of this operation. The tribesmen were assured that the Indian army was too ill-organised to offer any counter offensive, so they could fight their war of freedom without fear. No one remembered that frontier rebels do not fight wars of freedom on behalf of other people. They settle their tribal disputes through looting, murder and devastation.

Seeing the wild Pathan tribesmen attack and loot Jammu Kashmir , Hari Singh decided to get help from India. He wanted India to counter attack the Pathan tribesmen. The Governor-General of India, Lord Mountbatten, lost no time in flying Indian troops to Kashmir, which had not acceded to India, to repel the tribal offensive. A civilian government was in office in Pakistan under Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. When the Indian army moved into Kashmir, the Quaid-i-Azam ordered the Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan army, General Douglas Gracey, to send Pakistan forces into Kashmir to confront the Indian army. General Gracey refused to carry out these orders because he was not willing to fight the Indian soldiers who were operating under the command of his senior, Lord Mountbatten. The British soldiers who had come to Pakistan with General Gracey threatened to resign if they were ordered to go to Kashmir.

Maharaja Hari Singh decided to sign paper and join India. The Indians captured a large part of Jammu and Kashmir and the tribesmen were driven out in disgrace. Thus Jammu Kashmir became part of India. It was Pakistan's biggest mistake in attacking Kashmir which resulted in losing Kashmir forever.The myth of civilian supremacy in a matter relating to war was thus destroyed by an army man.

(This poor harmless Pathan could be one of the decescendants of the Pathans (mountain tribesmen from Pakistan)who came in earlier. Note the Afghan features and you would recollect memories of Talibani men.)

Hope you like the portrait.
Satyakki

sayeed_rahman, hemantbuch, TMLH, raszid62 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

qwcio (109) 2010-10-20 4:52

Hi Satyakki,
What a wonderful portrait.
The expression is incredible. Colours, sharpeness, DOF, all is perfect for me.
Thank you very much for sharing this.
Math

pajaran (116041) 2010-10-20 8:05

Pozdrav.
Vrlo interesantan i dobar tekst sa novim saznanjem.
Izmuceno lice coveka i oci koje bi mogle mnogo da kazu svojim pogledom, dobre boje i fotografija portreta.
Mnogo dobar tekst, svidja mi se vas rad.
Sve najbolje.
Paja.

Google.

Hello.
Very interesting and good article with new knowledge.
Man tortured face and eyes that could say much to his view, good color and portrait photography.
Lots of good text, I like your work.
All the best.
Paja.

tusharkmandal (3173) 2010-10-20 9:09

Hi Satyakki,

A nice portrait. The eye contact is really nice and I must say you have some guts to withstand that gaze even if he is harmless. I have done a workshop for you. I guess you will not mind it. Tell me you liked it or not.

Have a nice time
Tushar

[workshop] [compare] +

sayeed_rahman (6461) 2010-10-20 10:54

Reminds of a photo, similar subject and moment from McCurry but again in pakistan, dont know if youve seen it..think if you had controlled the light and the space this could have been just stunning...

sayeed

yedirenk (11244) 2010-10-20 14:55

Hi Satyakki,
very impressive portrait with details and light. a successful presentation.TFS
Greetings

Cevdet

Didi (61589) 2010-10-20 22:26

Hi Satyakki
The subject is very well framed but the colours are excessive.
The WS done is worse
Best regards

dhurjati (2709) 2010-10-21 0:28

Interesting expression and nice eye contact. But to me, the colors are just too much. I guess, Tushar's WS photo fits in well here.
Best,Dhurjati

bmukherjee (1516) 2010-10-21 8:55

Hi Satyakki,

A very interesting portrait and note. Of course, we're not sure if he's Pathan in the first place - but it's a good guess. The high contrast is an interesting post-processing;; however, I think it's a bit too high. It's a good crop, though.

cheers to a peaceful Kashmir,
biswaroop

balmikib (251) 2010-10-24 11:14

i like the directness of the shot and the subsequent detailing.....but the colours seems a bit saturated.

tried a workshop with a b/w version to give period look

[workshop] [compare] +

TMLH (2496) 2010-11-16 9:07

The only thing I like about this photo is the subject it is a nice snap shot

However, I think that the High contrast or HDR effect is disastrous in this situation. Shadow details are lost.

I suggest you use flash to fill in the shadow areas and reduce the highlight on the turban or alternatively move the subject to a area where the lighting is more diffuse

My feeling a softer B&W photo will have more impact

[workshop] [compare] +

raszid62 (18457) 2010-11-27 21:50

Hello
Excellent portrait, very expressive face. Image looks like a fantasy figure to depict the terrible magician.
Yours
Joseph

सुप्रभात. बढ़िया चित्र, बहुत अर्थपूर्ण चेहरा. छवि जादूगर भयानक लगता है जैसे किसी को दर्शाती कल्पना निकालने के लिए आपका..

Nolme (6829) 2010-12-17 12:17

J'aime le portrait qui est tr鋊 expressif mais aussi la note historique d彋aill嶪

Marie

batalay (41261) 2010-12-26 11:16

Hello Satyakki,

This is a remarkable photo, an incisive portrait of the Pathan. The over-saturation of colors is interesting and quite good. But, I believe it would be more powerful manipulated the way Sabyasachi1212 has done with one of the iconic photos on TE. Thank you for the superb note.

Warm regards,

Bulent