Journalists in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir have long been targeted by Indian authorities. In recent years, the situation has become more difficult and dangerous for journalists and human rights activists as the Indian government is using arbitrary travel bans to silence independent and critical voices in the country.
On 18 October 2022, Sanna Irshad Mattoo, 28 years old Kashmiri female photojournalist, was barred from traveling to New York by the Indian authorities. Mattoo won a Pulitzer award 22 for her commendable work in photojournalism. It was the second time the Mattoo was barred from traveling abroad in less than six months.
She was one of four journalists working for the Reuters news agency who won the Pulitzer for their journalistic work covering the COVID-19 pandemic. However, her three colleagues who were traveling with her were permitted to board the flight because they were not from Indian Occupied Kashmir This is not the first time that Sana’s I right to movement and press has been violated by the Indian authorities.
On July 2022, she was barred from traveling to Paris for a book launch and photography exhibition as one of the 10 winners of the Serendipity Arles Grant 2020. Soon after she tweeted about the incident, on 19th Oct, 22, the State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant the reports that “A Patel stated that they were aware shared commitment to democratic values including the respect for the independence of the press is a bedrock of the US-India relationship.”
Antonio Guterres, the United Nations secretary general, urged India to safeguard “the rights and freedoms of journalists, human rights activists, students and academics” and the rights of “minority communities amid growing concerns over the Hindu nationalist government’s anti-Muslim policies.
In a statement, Ben Lih Yi, Asia program coordinator of the Committee to Protect Journalists also stated that “there is no reason why Kashmiri journalist Sanna Irshad Mattoo, this decision is arbitrary and excessive. Indian authorities must immediately cease all forms of harassment and intimidation against journalists covering the situation in Kashmir.”
It is pertinent to mention that Rana Ayyub, an Indian journalist stopped from flying to UK, Italy on 29th March 22. Aakash Hassan, a contributor to the Guardian newspaper and many other international outlets, was similarly barred from boarding a flight from New Delhi to Sri Lanka for work in July 2022.
In October 2019, over politicians, human rights activists, and businessmen 450 journalists, lawyers, were placed on a temporary “No Fly List” without any judicial order. In 2022, India ranked 150th out of 180 – countries in the Press Freedom Index issued by press watchdog Reporters Without Borders.
(Pulitzer prize winning Kashmire photojournalist)
