India Stops Kashmiri Photographer from Flying to US | DoramasQueen

Indian authorities have banned an award-winning photographer from traveling to the US to receive a Pulitzer Prize, and Kashmiri journalists have been banned from leaving the country.

Among the four journalists working for Reuters, Sana Irshad was the only woman to win the prestigious Featured Photography award this year.

The 28-year-old Indian has won acclaim for documenting life in illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

Immigration officials stopped Mattu at the New Delhi airport late on Tuesday night and allowed his two friends to leave the country.

He later tweeted a photo of his ticket, which was stamped “cancelled without hesitation”.

I was on my way to New York to receive the Pulitzer Prize (@PulitzerPrize) but was stopped at immigration at the Delhi airport and denied international travel despite having a valid US visa and ticket.

“I don’t know what to say… it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Madhu, a fellow at the prestigious Magnum Foundation, told AFP.

“Only I was stopped without reason, others were let go. It might have something to do with me being a Kashmiri.

On Tuesday, he was banned from leaving India for the second time this year.

In July, he stopped at the same airport on his way to Paris for a book launch and photo exhibition.

Thousands of people have died in the IOJK since an insurgency against Indian rule began in 1989, and more than 500,000 troops are permanently stationed in the region.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government ended the region’s limited autonomy in 2019, cutting internet connections for months and detaining politicians to avoid an expected backlash.

Foreign journalists are banned at IIOJK and local journalists there are said to be under pressure to reduce their work.

‘Arbitrary and excessive’
Other Kashmiri journalists have also been banned from traveling abroad by the authorities in the last three years.

Akash Haasan, a freelance journalist who contributes regularly to the Guardian, was denied entry to Sri Lanka by New Delhi in July.

He told AFP that despite the passage of several months, he had not received any information from the authorities as to why he was not allowed to travel.

Hassan told AFP that it seemed to be happening only to Kashmiri journalists.

Bah Leah Yee of the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement that the decision not to allow Madhu to leave the country was arbitrary and excessive.

He urged India to stop “all forms of harassment and intimidation” against journalists working in Occupied Kashmir.