Pulitzer Prize: Sanna Irshad Mattoo, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist from Kashmir, claimed on Tuesday that immigration officials at the Delhi airport prevented her from travelling to the United States “despite having a valid visa and ticket.”
The photojournalist, who was 28 years old, was due to depart for New York on Monday after receiving the Pulitzer Prize for Reuters’ coverage of the COVID outbreak.
“I’ve been stopped twice already without cause or justification. After what happened a few months ago, I contacted a number of officials, but I never got an answer,” she stated.
“It was a once in a lifetime experience for me” Sanna Irshad Mattoo
She continued, “It was a once in a lifetime experience for me to be able to attend the award ceremony. She claimed that in the previous four months, she had been barred from travelling overseas a second time.
As one of the 10 recipients of the Serendipity Arles grant 2020, Mattoo was halted at the Delhi airport on July 2 as she was en route to Paris for a book launch and photographic exhibition.
After then, the Jammu & Kashmir Police informed a news organisation that Mattoo’s name was on a no-fly list without giving a cause.
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The National Conference (NC) had denounced the act
Aakash Hassan was prevented from going to Sri Lanka earlier in July because he was reporting on the turmoil there. The National Conference (NC) had denounced the journalist from Kashmir being barred, claiming that the action violated their fundamental right to freedom of movement.
Tanvir Sadiq, the chief spokesperson for the NC, has stated that the action was not justified. He had stated that the restrictions on our journalists’ freedom of movement were “yet another step toward crippling the working environment of the media and press fraternity.”
“It is imperative that the administration pause and evaluate its statements and deeds. Such excessive harassment and restrictions disprove the government’s assertions that it has created a conducive atmosphere for the operation of the media in Kashmir,” he had spoken.
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