A picture is worth a thousand words. It won't be a cliché to describe the photographs displayed at "The Rise of A Nation" exhibition in Zainul Gallery of Faculty of Fine Arts of Dhaka University with this proverb.

It featured photojournalist Raghu Rai's works capturing the exodus of 10 million people during Bangladesh's 1971 Liberation War.

Curated by Zihan Karim, the display depicts the raw emotions and resilience of those displaced, shedding light on the untold stories of suffering and hope.

Rai's powerful compositions show resilience amidst pain, such as a picture of a mother shielding her child as they flee the onslaught of Pakistani occupation forces or a young boy's determined gaze reflecting his unbroken spirit despite all odds.

Inaugurated by Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque yesterday, the exhibition aims to highlight the role of photography in recognising the Bangladesh genocide of 1971.

"These photos transported me back in time. One picture, in particular, caught my eye: a child nestled in his mother's lap, amidst thousands waiting at the no man's land to cross into India. It felt as though I was there myself, and the child's gaze pierced through the image, connecting with me directly," Shoaib Ahmed, a DU student, told this newspaper.

Tania Mosharraf, a private service-holder, said, "His photographs speak a thousand words. From a starving child in his mother's lap to a freedom fighter planting trees in hope of new days, from hundreds of malnourished people cramming into a small tiny room to two brothers carrying their old mother in a basket, Raghu Rai's photographs tell all the untold stories of those miserable days."

Freedom fighter and cultural personality Nasiruddin Yousuff Bachchu, Dean of DU's Fine Arts Faculty Professor Nisar Hossen and Liberation War Museum trustee Sarwar Ali were present at the event, among others.