Writer C.V. Balakrishnan looking at photographs from the exhibition featuring images captured by S.S. Santhosh Kumar, a doctor who served in the war-hit Gaza, at the Lalithakala Akademi Art Gallery in Kozhikode on December 15. The exhibition is organised by the Palestine Solidarity Committee.
| Photo Credit: K. Ragesh
A lone child wandering amid the pulverised ruins of a once-vibrant street in Khan Younis captures the harrowing scale of devastation in Gaza. Surrounded by the skeletal remains of buildings, this heartbreaking image is one of many documenting the military offensive, captured by S.S. Santhosh Kumar, team leader of the United Nations Emergency Medical Team.
The collection is currently on display at the Kozhikode Lalithakala Akademi Art Gallery, in an exhibition organised by the Palestine Solidarity Committee.
As a firsthand witness, Dr. Kumar says the city — formerly the second-largest urban area in the Gaza Strip — initially designated as a safe zone, had been reduced to a vast expanse of rubble in just two years.
Offering a raw glimpse into the realities of conflict, the exhibition includes graphic images of injuries and wounds documented within hospital environments. Each photograph was captured on his mobile phone while he was leading the medical team through the disaster zone. “It was the pungent smell of sewage that first hit me as I crossed the border from Egypt into Gaza,” he recalls.
These unfiltered images document the impact of the war and the nature of the violence. The traces of conflict, the suffering involved, and the difficult living conditions faced by civilians highlight the human cost of the ongoing hostilities.
​The exhibition offers visual evidence of damage to civilian infrastructure and presents a picture of widespread disruption and loss. “A single toilet was intended for use by 1,500 people,” Dr. Kumar noted. “Those in need did not even dare look at the length of the queue.”
Dr. Kumar previously worked with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and has served missions in 40 countries, providing medical assistance in various capacities across global conflict zones. A former trainer for the UN Disaster Management Programme, he has spent the past four years working with the United Nations’ Project HOPE.
​Writer C.V. Balakrishnan inaugurated the exhibition on Monday (December 15). It remains open to the public daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. till December 22.
Published – December 16, 2025 08:47 pm IST
