Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday congratulated the three Indian photojournalists who won the Pulitzer Prize in feature photography.
“Congratulations to Indian photojournalists Dar Yasin, Mukhtar Khan and Channi Anand for winning a Pulitzer Prize for their powerful images of life in Jammu & Kashmir. You make us all proud,” Gandhi said on Twitter.
Dar Yasin, Mukhtar Khan and Channi Anand work with news agency Associated Press and won the award for their coverage of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly during the clampdown which was imposed after its special status was revoked in August 2019 and the state downgraded to a union territory.
While Yasin and Khan are from Kashmir, Anand is from Jammu.
“It’s not the story of the people I am shooting, only, but it’s my story,” Yasin told AP. “It’s a great honor to be in the list of Pulitzer winners and to share my story with the world.”
Anand said the award left him speechless. “I was shocked and could not believe it,” he said.
Congratulatory messages have been pouring in for three photojournalists.
“It’s been a difficult year for journalists in Kashmir & that’s saying something considering the last 30 years haven’t exactly been easy. Congratulations to @daryasin, @muukhtark_khan & @channiap on this prestigious award. More power to your cameras,” National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said in a tweet.
On August 5 last year, central government revoked the special status under Article 370 of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir in Parliament and split the region into two union territories. Before the decision, the government put the region under a lockdown imposing strict restrictions with no communication or internet services and put hundreds of people, including most of the regional mainstream politicians, under detention. The clampdown was so hard in the initial days that it became difficult for journalists to even move or send their works to their organizations.
The AP said that the three photojournalists, snaking around roadblocks, sometimes took cover in strangers’ homes and hid cameras in vegetable bags. They captured images of protests, police and paramilitary action and daily life – and then headed to an airport to persuade travellers to carry the photo files in memory cards and flash drives out with them and get them to the agency’s office in New Delhi.
The awards come at a time when the local journalists in Kashmir are decrying the difficult circumstances they are facing while working amid increasing pressure of the state including examples of cases against journalists under UAPA.
