This is the story of Faustin Elmer (F.E.) Chaudhry, the founder of photojournalism in Pakistan, n eye witness of the movement and history of Pakistan
How great is the art of seeing the world through the lens of pictures and writing. It greatly affects the thinking process of a person.
Just imagine what our world would be like if humans did not have the ability to draw and write. In the same way, if the struggle, development and history of our dear homeland Pakistan were not photographed and written, how would we know about our glorious past? I will always have a special place in my heart for those who think ahead of their time and beyond themselves.
So I introduce such personalities to the new generation and even today we will know about such a personality. This personality is Faustin Elmer Chaudhry, an eyewitness of the Pakistan Movement and a safeguard of Pakistan’s development journey.
The founder of photojournalism in Pakistan, Faustin Elmer Chaudhry popularly known as Chacha Chaudhry was not only a person with a great humorous personality but also an interesting, memorable, epoch-making and admirable character of Pakistani history, his life and legacy are pure joy and a source of pride for us.
Chacha Chaudhry was born on 15 March 1909 in Saharanpur, UP, India, into a Rajput Christian family. It is said that his grandfather converted to Christianity. He belonged to Salimpur village near Hoshiarpur in East Punjab. His grandfather was a Naru Rajput while his grandmother was a Janjua Rajput. His father’s name was Yuhana Khan.
FE Chaudhry received his early education from Municipal School Shah Alam Gate and SirFrancis School Lahore. He matriculated from Mission High School Dalwal in Jhelum district from where he started photography as his hobby.
After that he completed his education in Forman Christian College Lahore. He was married on March 25, 1932 to Mary Clementine Chaudhry, who was a founding member of the Sacred Heart Cathedral School and continued her educational services for many years
Chacha Chaudhry was a science and Urdu teacher in St. Anthony’s High School Lahore from 1934 to 1949. There he started photojournalism and his first photograph was published in Civil and Military Gazette Lahore in 1935.
As a freelance photographer he also contributed to Illustrated Weekly of India, The Statesman Delhi and The Hindu Madras. He also took photographs of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s speech during the 1936 Shaheed Ganj Movement in Lahore and proudly considered these photographs as his masterpiece.
He was an ardent admirer of Quaid-e-Azam and actively participated in the Pakistan Movement. When the Muslim League Salt Range branch was inaugurated, Chacha Chaudhry rode on a horse to the venue to cover the event. He not only took pictures there but also gave speeches in the villages to support Pakistan. Quaid-i-Azam greeted him on seeing him and said “Hello Mr. Photographer, how are you?”
Chacha Chaudhry was awarded numerous awards in recognition of his high and proud services, especially Star of Distinction, Tamgha-i-Khidmatand Tehreek-e-Pakistan Gold Medal.
Chacha Chaudhry was not only fortunate in that he got the best name and position in the society, but he was also blessed with good health and integrity and led a rich, professional, social, religious and family life. He passed away at the age of 104 on his birthday on 15 March 2013.
Chacha Chaudhry’s family is a remarkable Christian family in the history of Pakistan which has achieved its prominent position in social, educational, military, religious and social development by their contribution.
It is generally said that big trees do not grow under the shade of a big tree, but his son, Group Captain Cecil Chaudhry, set a new example by getting the Star of Courage and Star of Valor in the Pakistan Air Force. His whole family is remarkable in this respect. Chacha Chaudhry trained his family well and performed his duties well like a responsible head of the family.hacha Chaudhry pioneered photojournalism in Pakistan and played an extraordinary role in the field of press photography in the Indian subcontinent. He was known as the “Famous Photojournalist” and is also considered as the “Grandfather” of Photojournalism in Pakistan.
Faustin Elmer Chaudhry also has the individual honor of documenting the Muslim League’s freedom struggle and the mass exodus that followed in 1947.
He worked at The Pakistan Times until the late 1970s, where he worked with Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Mazhar Ali Khan and KM Asif.
Chacha Chaudhry was Pakistan’s first serious, full-time press photographer, working as a freelancer. Chacha Chaudhry started his career as a journalist in 1935 in The Civil and Military Gazette. Before being hired by Mian Iftikharuddin at The Pakistan Times in 1949, he worked freelance with several magazines and newspapers.
Professor Salamat Akhtar in his well-known book “Tehreek-e-Pakistan ke Gum Nam Kardar” writes about ChachaF. E. Chaudhry that “the father of Tehreek-e-Pakistan’s photographic journey, the brave soldier of Quaid-i-Azam and the unique diamond of photography.” Chacha F. E. Chaudhry’s name shines like a lamp in the pages of dark and History of Pakistan and like a cold light in the darkness. In the field of photography, his peers are nowhere. He opened your eyes on March 15, 1909 for the sake of charisma in the world through the eyes of a camera.
His pictures tell the story of Tehreek-e-Pakistan today. Moreover, the picture of the reception given to the Quaid-e-Azam and the Quaid-e-Millat by Mr. Dewan Bahadur S.P. Singha at the Loring Hotel in 1942 is a living example of the living role of the Christians in the Christian-Muslim unity and Pakistan Movement.
There are countless aspects of his life, journalistic, literary and social services on which a whole book can be written. I have tried to highlight only a few points in this article.
Leaving aside your ignorance and prejudice for a moment, See Pakistan through F.E.Chaudhry’s eyes, you will see Pakistan beautiful, colorful and full of love, peace, brotherhood and religious harmony.
This is the beauty and true color of Pakistan, whose real image was shown by people like Chacha F. E. Chaudhry, where humanity was higher than the color, race, language and background of human beings, where the human beings were equal in the sight of state, politics, journalism and society. I wish it would be so that by changing the glasses, the ideologies would change, the vision would change from the lens and the thinking from the vision, then it would not take long to change the society.
Let’s see Pakistan from the lens of Chacha F. E. Chaudhry and through his photographs. I have tried to paint a picture of the life of the founder of photography in Pakistan through my writing; hopefully it will serve as a tribute to the legend.
