This pic landed Bangla photojournalist in deep mess

Could a photo of a couple kissing in the rain cost the photographer his job and also draw the ire of his colleagues, so much so that they decide to assault him?

Bangladeshi photojournalist Jibon Ahmed was beaten up by his fellow photojournalists after the picture he took of a couple kissing in the rain at Dhaka University’s Teachers and Students’ Centre went viral on social media.

“On Tuesday, Jibon Ahmed came under attack at the same place, from where he took the viral kissing picture of an unknown pair, by some of his fellow photographers,” said Maksudul Haque, Ahmed's colleague, reports Dhaka-based newspaper The Daily Kaler Kantho.

He also lost his job in 'Purbapashchim', says a Facebook post. "He was exonerated from Bengali online news portal 'Purbapashchim' on Wednesday noon. The portal's editor Khujista Nur-e-Naharin Munni, however, said, "The final decision is not taken in this regard yet."

"In this case too, the office gave me no exact reason for firing me. I was just told that I can't work here anymore," Ahmed told News18.

Though the original post received positive reactions initially, "the photo also earned him ire from social media users," reports Janata Ka Reporter.

"An image is subjective and anyone can interpret it the way they want. I cannot really help it. Everyone has a different way of looking at things. To some it's love to some it's obscene," Ahmed told News18.

Ahmed said that the couple saw him taking the photo but they did not bar him from capturing it. However, Ahmed did not mention whether he took permission from the couple for posting it on Facebook, 'The Daily Kaler Kantho' reported

Ahmed told Washington Post that his editors refused to use the picture as "it would prompt a negative response".

"Today’s outrage is perhaps the most damning testimony of the government’s inability to truly engender progress and liberty. It is indeed bad times when a kiss brings out the worst in us," wrote Tanim Ahmed in an opinion piece on 'Dhaka Tribune'. This incident is widely read along with the growing intolerance in Bangladesh.

(Compiled by Jishnu EN)