26.5 C
Accra
Monday, December 23, 2024
WorldSanna Irshad Mattoo: Pulitzer award-winning Kashmiri journalist was prevented from leaving India

Date:

Sanna Irshad Mattoo: Pulitzer award-winning Kashmiri journalist was prevented from leaving India

A Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist from Indian-administered Kashmir has alleged that immigration officials at Delhi airport prevented her from travelling to the United States.

Sanna Irshad Mattoo received a Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak and was on her way to the award ceremony.

Ms Mattoo said she was stopped “despite having a valid visa and ticket”.

The Indian government has not made a statement yet on why she was stopped.

News agency PTI quoted Jammu and Kashmir police officials as saying that she had been placed on a no-fly list.

Ms Mattoo said this was the second such incident in four months. The journalist told the BBC she asked officials why she hadn’t been allowed to travel but was not given a reason.

She said she was “heartbroken” at not getting the chance to attend the ceremony, describing the Pulitzer as a “dream for every journalist”.

Several activists and journalists have been stopped from leaving or entering the country this year.

In March, journalist Rana Ayyub – who writes for the Washington Post – was stopped at Mumbai airport when she was about to board a flight to the UK to deliver a speech at the International Centre for Journalists.

Ms Ayyub was allowed to travel a few days later after she won an appeal against the decision in the Delhi High Court and got permission.

In April, former Amnesty India chief Aakar Patel was stopped twice from boarding a flight to the US at Bangalore airport.

This followed a federal investigation into Amnesty allegedly breaking India’s foreign currency exchange laws during Mr Patel’s tenure as its chief. The agency called him a “flight risk”. He was later asked by a court not to leave the country without its permission.

In August, Angad Singh, an Emmy-nominated American journalist of Indian origin, was reportedly deported to New York soon after he landed in Delhi.

While the Indian government did not comment on the incident, Mr Singh’s family said his passport was confiscated at the airport before he was deported. His mother alleged his treatment was a response to the documentaries the journalist had made on India’s Covid crisis and farmers’ protests for Vice News.

Earlier this year, the federal government deported Professor Filippo Osella, an anthropologist at the University of Sussex, who had been visiting India for more than 30 years.

Prof Osella challenged his deportation in the Delhi High Court, calling it arbitrary and unconstitutional. He also said he was treated like “a hardened criminal” by Indian authorities without being given a reason for his deportation.

Last week, the Indian government defended its decision in court, saying that the academician had been placed in the “highest category of blacklisting” based on “sufficient material” against him.

[forminator_poll id="710479"]

Latest stories

U.S. Financial Analyst labels Akufo-Addo as Ghana’s worst, corrupt leader

Renowned U.S. financial analyst Scott Bolshevik has sparked a...

Lead-based paints cause lasting health damage – EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has voiced concerns over...

Upper West Region receives 35,600 condoms in effort to curb HIV spread

The Ghana AIDS Commission distributed 35,600 condoms in the...

Star Oil commemorates 25th anniversary

Star Oil, a privately-run fuel retail company, has reaffirmed...

Govt has not issued financial clearance for new expenses – Govt’s transition team

The Government Transition Team clarified that no financial clearance...

‘Your career has not come to an end when you leave a record label’ – Sefa

Ghanaian musician Sefadzi Abena Amesu, popularly known as Sefa,...

More than 12,000 Ghanaians were deported globally in last four years – GIS

The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has reported that over...

Related stories

Biden grants full pardon to son Hunter amid criminal sentencing

US President Joe Biden has granted a full and...

Court issues 2-year suspended death sentence to former Bank of China Chair for bribery, others

Former Bank of China chairman Liu Liange on Tuesday received...

Ghanaians among UN peacekeepers injured in Southern Lebanon attacks

The UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon has reported...

Russia denies Trump told Putin to restrain Ukraine war efforts

The Kremlin has rejected media reports suggesting that US...

More than 100 detained as protesters defy Amsterdam’s ban on protests

Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested in Amsterdam on...

Traffic jam erupts as cyclists from Zhengzhou to Kaifeng for dumplings

A social media trend that began as a lighthearted...

Adin Ross wins $1.6m on Trump election bet after public endorsement

American streamer and social media influencer Adin Ross scored...