NEW DELHI: A Pulitzer Prize-winning Kashmiri photojournalist said Wednesday that Indian immigration authorities prevented her from flying to the United States to receive the award even though she had a valid visa and ticket.
Sanna Irshad Mattoo was scheduled to fly to New York on Monday to receive the Pulitzer Prize but was blocked by officials at New Delhi’s airport, she said.
Mattoo said she was stopped without reason and her ticket was canceled.
Mattoo was working on assignment for Reuters, which won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for coverage of the COVID-19 crisis in India.
She said she was traveling with two colleagues who were cleared to travel while she was stopped. Mattoo said the immigration official handed her boarding pass back but did not respond when she asked repeatedly what the problem was. She was then taken to the airline counter to collect her luggage.
Mattoo said she has no idea why she was prevented from traveling. “Is it about my work? Is it something else? I should be told. The problem is I don’t know what the problem is,” she said.
There was no immediate comment from Indian authorities.
It was the second such experience for Mattoo, who was stopped from traveling to Paris in July for a book launch and photography exhibition as one of 10 winners of the Serendipity Arles Grant 2020. Again, Mattoo said that immigrations officials gave her no reason but told her she would not be able to travel internationally.
She has been working since 2018 as a freelance photojournalist depicting life in Indian-controlled Kashmir, where insurgents have been fighting for the region’s independence or merger with neighboring Pakistan.
Journalists have long braved threats in the restive region as the Indian government seeks to tighten control over the media. Their situation has grown worse since India revoked the region’s semi-autonomy in 2019, with dozens arrested, interrogated and investigated under harsh anti-terror laws.
India stops journalist from flying to receive Pulitzer Prize
https://arab.news/gm73f
India stops journalist from flying to receive Pulitzer Prize
- Sanna Irshad Mattoo was scheduled to fly to New York on Monday
- Mattoo said she was stopped without reason, ticket was canceled
Palestine Action hunger strikers launch legal action against UK govt
- They accuse authorities of abandoning prison safety policies
- Several of the imprisoned activists have been hospitalized
LONDON: Hunger strikers from Palestine Action in the UK have launched legal action against the government, accusing it of abandoning the policy framework for prison safety, The Independent reported.
A pre-action letter was sent to Justice Secretary David Lammy by a legal firm representing the activists.
It came as several imprisoned members of the banned organization — including one who has refused food for 51 days — were hospitalized due to their deteriorating health while on hunger strike.
They say they have sent several letters to Lammy, who is also deputy prime minister, but have received no response.
He was urged in the latest letter to respond within 24 hours as the issue is a “matter of urgency.”
The letter added: “Our clients’ health continues to deteriorate, such that the risk of their dying increases every day.”
An “urgent meeting” is needed “with the proposed defendant to discuss the deterioration of our clients’ health and to discuss attempts to resolve the situation,” it said.
Seven of the Palestine Action prisoners have been admitted to hospital since the hunger strike was launched on Nov. 2, including 30-year-old Amu Gib and Kamran Ahmed, 28.
They are being held in prisons across the country. Two members of the group have been forced to end their hunger strike due to health conditions: Jon Cink, 25, ended on day 41, while 22-year-old Umer Khalid finished on day 13.
Gib, now on day 51, was hospitalized last week and reportedly needs a wheelchair due to health concerns.
Dr. James Smith, an emergency physician, warned journalists last Thursday that some of the imprisoned activists “are dying” and need specialized medical care.
In a letter signed by more than 800 doctors, Smith said the hunger strikers were at “very high risk of serious complications, including organ failure, irreversible neurological damage, cardiac arrhythmias and death.”
The strikers are demanding that Palestine Action, which is classified as a terrorist organization, be de-proscribed.
They are also urging the government to shut down defense companies with ties to Israel, among other demands.
In response to the latest letter, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We strongly refute these claims. We want these prisoners to accept support and get better, and we will not create perverse incentives that would encourage more people to put themselves at risk through hunger strikes.”
