The tenth edition of Asia's most prestigious photography festival, Chobi Mela, began Thursday. An inauguration ceremony at Chhayanaut Auditorium was followed by an opening rally from Pathshala South Asian Media Institute.

The guests of honour at the opening ceremony were curator of USA's Rubin Museum of Art Beth Citron, Nepali publisher, writer and editor Kunda Dixit, Indian photographer Raghu Rai, and economist Rehman Sobhan.

Festival director Shahidul Alam presided over the programme. At the ceremony, the lifetime achievement award 2019 was presented to late Dr Nawajesh Ahmed, an internationally renowned photographer, agriculture scientist and author, for his outstanding contribution to photography of Bangladesh.

The ten-day festival will go on until March 9, 2019.

'Fear is contagious, so is courage'

On the first day of Chobimela X, a discussion on 'Freedom of Thought and Expression' was held at the Drik-Pathshala's under-construction building.

The panelists included Dixit, Editor of Nepali Times, a weekly Kathmandu-based English newspaper; Tanvi Mishra, Photo Editor of The Caravan, a journal on politics and culture; Nurul Kabir, Editor of New Age, a daily English language newspaper in Bangladesh; and Rahnuma Ahmed, writer and anthropologist.

The discussion focused on forming solidarity among journalists, particularly in South Asia, where the media is constantly facing administrative backlash.

"Freedom of thought and expression are two things people across the world have been fighting for over the years," said Nurul Kabir. "However, circumstances in South Asia show that people here are far more oppressed than those in the West."

He said: "To make democracy participatory, media should be free to think and express."

The controversial section 57 of the ICT Act was also part of the discussion.

"Now that the mainstream media is in control, the next target is social media," said Dixit. "New cyber and privacy laws have been passed in order to constrict the media's freedom of expression."

Tanvi Misha said artistes will always find a way to use the restrictions to feed their work and be more creative.

Rahnuma Ahmad noted that we are "living in difficult times" and that freedom of thought and expression should be exercised by everyone.

"Just as fear is contagious, courage is also contagious," she said. "When people come forward, it inspires others."