The latest of several Kashmiri journalists who have been prohibited from leaving the country by Indian officials is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist who was trying to fly to the United States to collect her medal.
Sanna Irshad Mattoo was one of four Reuters news agency employees who won this year’s top award for feature photography.
The 28-year-old has received praise for his photographs of life in Indian-administrated Kashmir, a disputed and heavily militarised Himalayan region that is the scene of a long-running insurgency.
At the New Delhi airport late on Tuesday, Mattoo was stopped by immigration officials and denied from boarding while two of her colleagues were allowed to exit the country.
Later, she shared an image of her ticket with the words “cancelled without prejudice” stamped on it.
“I’m not sure what to say… This was an opportunity of a lifetime for me, said Mattoo, a fellow of the prestigious Magnum Foundation, telling AFP.
Only I was unexpectedly stopped; everyone else was free to continue. Maybe being a Kashmiri has something to do with that.
Mattoo was unable to leave India on Tuesday for the second time this year.
On her route to Paris for a book launch and photography exhibition in July, she was similarly halted at the same airport.
“I’m not sure what to say… This was an opportunity of a lifetime for me, said Mattoo, a fellow of the prestigious Magnum Foundation, telling AFP.
India has made efforts to solidify its hold on Kashmir, which is also fully claimed by Pakistan, and which has served as a continual source of hostility between the two nuclear-armed adversaries.
Since the beginning of a rebellion against Indian sovereignty in 1989, many have died there, and more than 500,000 troops are stationed there on a regular basis.
In order to prevent a potential reaction, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration stripped the region of its minimal autonomy in 2019, cutting internet access for months, and imprisoning political figures.
Local reporters based in Kashmir are prohibited from interviewing foreign media.
