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Tag: Danish Siddiqui

  • Slain photojournalist Danish Siddiqui among four Indians honoured with Pulitzer Prize

    By PTI

    NEW YORK: Slain photojournalist Danish Siddiqui is among four Indians honoured with the prestigious Pulitzer Prize 2022 in the feature photography category.

    Siddiqui and his colleagues Adnan Abidi, Sanna Irshad Mattoo and Amit Dave from the Reuters news agency won the award, announced on Monday, for “images of COVID’s toll in India that balanced intimacy and devastation, while offering viewers a heightened sense of place”, according to The Pulitzer Prizes website.

    Their work was moved from the breaking news photography category by the judges.

    Siddiqui, 38, was on assignment in Afghanistan last year when he died.

    The award-winning journalist was killed in July last while covering clashes between Afghan troops and the Taliban in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar city.

    This is for the second time that Siddiqui has won the Pulitzer Prize.

    He was honoured with the prestigious award in 2018 as part of the Reuters team for their coverage of the Rohingya crisis.

    He had extensively covered the Afghanistan conflict, the Hong Kong protests and other major events in Asia, Middle East, and Europe.

    Siddiqui graduated with a degree in Economics from Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi.

    He had a degree in Mass Communication from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre at Jamia in 2007.

    He started his career as a television news correspondent, switched to photojournalism, and joined Reuters as an intern in 2010.

    Marcus Yam of the Los Angeles Times bagged the award in the Breaking News photography category “for raw and urgent images of the US departure from Afghanistan that capture the human cost of the historic change in the country”.

    Yam’s work was moved from Feature Photography by the jury.

    Win McNamee, Drew Angerer, Spencer Platt, Samuel Corum and Jon Cherry of Getty Images also won the award in the Breaking News photography category for their “comprehensive and consistently riveting photos of the attack on the US Capitol”.

    The Washington Post bagged the Pulitzer Prize in public service journalism for its coverage of the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol.

    According to the award committee, the newspaper “compellingly told and vividly presented account of the assault on Washington on January 6, 2021, providing the public with a thorough and unflinching understanding of one of the nation’s darkest days”.

    The Post’s extensive reporting, published in a sophisticated interactive series, found numerous problems and failures in political systems and security before, during and after the Jan 6, 2021, riot in the newspaper’s own backyard.

    The “compellingly told and vividly presented account” gave the public “a thorough and unflinching understanding of one of the nation’s darkest days,” said Marjorie Miller, administrator of the prizes, in announcing the award.

    Five Getty Images photographers were awarded one of the two prizes in breaking news photography for their coverage of the riot.

    The other prize awarded in breaking news photography went to Los Angeles Times correspondent and photographer Marcus Yam, for work related to the fall of Kabul.

    The US pullout and resurrection of the Taliban’s grip on Afghanistan permeated across categories, with The New York Times winning in the international reporting category for reporting challenging official accounts of civilian deaths from US airstrikes in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

    The Pulitzer Prizes, administered by Columbia University and considered the most prestigious in American journalism, recognise work in 15 journalism categories and seven arts categories.

    This year’s awards, which were livestreamed, honoured work produced in 2021.

    The winner of the public service award receives a gold medal, while winners of each of the other categories get $15,000.

    The intersection of health, safety and infrastructure played a prominent role among the winning projects.

    The Tampa Bay Times won the investigative reporting award for “Poisoned,” its in-depth look into a polluting lead factory.

    The Miami Herald took the breaking news award for its work covering the deadly Surfside condo tower collapse, while The Better Government Association and the Chicago Tribune won the local reporting award for “Deadly Fires, Broken Promises,” the watchdog and newspaper’s examination of a lack of enforcement of fire safety standards.

    “As a newsroom, we poured our hearts into the breaking news and the ongoing daily coverage, and subsequent investigative coverage, of the Champlain Towers South condominium collapse story,” The Miami Herald’s executive editor, Monica Richardson, wrote in a statement.

    “It was our story to tell because the people and the families in Surfside who were impacted by this unthinkable tragedy are a part of our community.”

    Elsewhere in Florida, Tampa Bay Times’ editor and vice president Mark Katches mirrored that sentiment, calling his newspaper’s win “a testament to the importance of a vital local newsroom like the Times.”

    The prize for explanatory reporting went to Quanta Magazine, with the board highlighting the work of Natalie Wolchover, for a long-form piece about the James Webb space telescope, a $10 billion engineering effort to gain a better understanding about the origins of the universe.

    The New York Times also won in the national reporting category, for a project looking at police traffic stops that ended in fatalities, and Salamishah Tillet, a contributing critic-at-large at the Times, won the criticism award.

    A story that used graphics in comic form to tell the story of Zumrat Dawut, a Uyghur woman who said she was persecuted and detained by the Chinese government as part of systemic abuses against her community, brought the illustrated reporting and commentary prize to Fahmida Azim, Anthony Del Col, Josh Adams and Walt Hickey of Insider.

    Jennifer Senior of The Atlantic won the award for feature writing, for a piece marking the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks through a family’s grief.

    Melinda Henneberger of The Kansas City Star won for commentary, for columns about a retired police detective accused of sexual abuse and those who said they were assaulted calling for justice.

    The editorial writing prize went to Lisa Falkenberg, Michael Lindenberger, Joe Holley and Luis Carrasco of the Houston Chronicle, for a piece that called for voting reforms and exposed voter suppression tactics.

    The staffs of Futuro Media and PRX took the audio reporting prize for the profile of a man who had been in prison for 30 years and was re-entering the outside world.

    The Pulitzer Board awarded a special citation to the journalists of Ukraine for their “courage, endurance, and commitment to truthful reporting during (President) Vladimir Putin’s ruthless invasion of their country and his propaganda war in Russia”.

    “Despite bombardment, abductions, occupation, and even deaths in their ranks, they have persisted in their effort to provide an accurate picture of a terrible reality, doing honour to Ukraine and to journalists around the world,” the committee said.

    The Pulitzer Prizes were established by Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian-American journalist and newspaper publisher, who left money to Columbia University upon his death in 1911.

    A portion of his bequest was used to found the School of Journalism in 1912 and establish the Pulitzer Prizes, which were first awarded in 1917.

    The 19-member Pulitzer Board is composed of leading journalists and news executives from media outlets across the US, as well as five academics or persons in the arts.

    The dean of Columbia’s journalism school and the administrator of the prizes are non-voting members.

    The chair rotates annually to the most senior member or members.

    The Pulitzer Board has also awarded a special citation to Ukrainian journalists.

    The board recognised those in their home country covering the ongoing crisis that began earlier this year for “their courage, endurance, and commitment to truthful reporting during Vladimir Putin’s ruthless invasion of their country and his propaganda war in Russia.”

    The board said their reporting has provided an accurate picture of the situation in the country and has done honour to both Ukraine and journalists everywhere.

  • Photojournalist Danish Siddiqui posthumously gets Mumbai Press Club’s RedInk Award

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who died during an assignment in Afghanistan, has been posthumously awarded as the ‘Journalist of the Year’ for 2020 by the Mumbai Press Club.

    Chief Justice of India N V Ramana on Wednesday presented the annual ‘RedInk Awards for Excellence in Journalism’, instituted by the Mumbai Press Club, in a virtual event.

    He presented the prestigious award to Siddiqui “for his spectrum of investigative and impactful news photography”.

    Danish Siddiqui’s wife Frederike Siddiqui received the award.

    “He was a man with a magical eye and was rightly regarded as one of the foremost photojournalists of this era.

    If a picture can tell a thousand words, his photos were novels,” Chief Justice Ramana said while paying tributes to the scribe.

    Senior journalist Prem Shankar Jha, 83, was bestowed with the lifetime achievement award “for his long and distinguished career of incisive and analytical writing”.

    “His reputation for hard work, the highest ethical standards, and intellectual rigour are unparalleled in the field,” CJ Ramana said while congratulating Jha.

    The Mumbai Press Club instituted The RedInk Awards a decade ago to recognise good investigative and feature writing and raise the bar of journalism in the country.

    Apart from Siddiqui and Jha, variour other journalists were awarded in 12 categories as part of the 10th edition of the award event.

  • Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was executed by Taliban: Report

    By PTI
    WASHINGTON: Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was not simply killed in a crossfire in Afghanistan, nor was he simply collateral damage, but was “brutally murdered” by the Taliban after verifying his identity, according to a report published in a US-based magazine on Thursday.

    Siddiqui, 38, was on assignment in Afghanistan when he died.

    The award-winning journalist was killed while covering clashes between Afghan troops and the Taliban in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar city.

    According to the Washington Examiner report, Siddiqui travelled with an Afghan National Army team to the Spin Boldak region to cover fighting between Afghan forces and the Taliban to control the lucrative border crossing with Pakistan.

    When they got to within one-third of a mile of the customs post, a Taliban attack split the team, with the commander and a few men separated from Siddiqui, who remained with three other Afghan troops.

    During this assault, shrapnel hit Siddiqui, and so he and his team went to a local mosque where he received first aid.

    As word spread, however, that a journalist was in the mosque, the Taliban attacked. The local investigation suggests the Taliban attacked the mosque only because of Siddiqui’s presence there, the report said.

    “Siddiqui was alive when the Taliban captured him. The Taliban verified his identity and then executed him, as well as those with him. The commander and the remainder of his team died as they tried to rescue him,” it said.

    “While a widely circulated public photograph shows Siddiqui’s face recognizable, I reviewed other photographs and a video of Siddiqui’s body provided to me by a source in the Indian government that show the Taliban beat Siddiqui around the head and then riddled his body with bullets,” wrote the writer Micheal Rubin, who is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

    The Taliban’s decision to hunt down, execute Siddiqui, and then mutilate his corpse shows that they do not respect the rules of war or conventions that govern the behaviour of the global community, the report said.

    Siddiqui won the Pulitzer Prize in 2018 as part of the Reuters team for their coverage of the Rohingya crisis.

    He had extensively covered the Afghanistan conflict, the Hong Kong protests and other major events in Asia, Middle East, and Europe.

    Siddiqui was laid to rest at the Jamia Millia Islamia graveyard where a sea of mourners gathered to pay their last respects.

    His body arrived at the Delhi airport in the evening of July 18 and was later brought to his residence in Jamia Nagar where a huge crowd, including his family and friends, had gathered.

  • Danish Siddiqui laid to rest at Jamia Millia Islamia graveyard

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Slain photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who was killed in Afghanistan, was on Sunday laid to rest at the Jamia Millia Islamia graveyard where a sea of mourners gathered to pay their last respects.

    His body arrived at the Delhi airport in the evening and was later brought to his residence in Jamia Nagar where a huge crowd, including his family and friends, had gathered.

    Police was deployed in the area and its personnel kept urging the gathering to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour.

    Siddiqui’s body was taken to the graveyard where it was buried around 10.15 pm.

    There was a sea of mourners at the burial site to pay their respects.

    His friends recalled their last conversations with him and his promise of meeting them once he returned from his assignment.

    Some people remembered him as their childhood friend, some as their mentor but what was common in their memories of him was that he was a simple person who was passionate about photography.

    Bilal Zaidi (37), a friend of Siddiqui, said, “I met him before Covid as he was always on field and then met him last month when he was here.We exchanged a hellos.”

    “He was a very reserved and shy person and that’s why when he started his career as a TV journalist, we felt there was a mismatch. He was somebody who always carried a camera with him whenever he was on field. He enjoyed taking photos and had a passion for still photography. He won Pulitzer for this,” Zaidi said.

    Shahdab Alam (37), his childhood friend, said Siddiqui’s death was not only a loss for his family but for the entire nation.

    “He was passionate about photography and loved playing cricket. I met him last month for a couple of minutes and had a word with him when he was leaving for the assignment,” he recalled.

    Mohammad Meharban, a freelance photojournalist, had last messaged Siddiqui asking whether he would be coming home on Eid-ul-Zuha, and he had replied,”Inshaallah, I will come and will eat with you.”

    Remembering his mentor, Meharban broke down. “He was my mentor and I was with him since 2017. He sent me a link of his work. When I opened it and found that he was in Afghanistan, I immediately called him and said it’s not safe there. He said it’s okay, my work has been done and I will be back soon,” he recalled.

    Imran Kasim, another childhood friend, remembered meeting him at a friend’s wedding almost four years ago.

    “We grew up together. He had a passion for photography and became a photojournalist. We were in touch through WhatsApp and other mediums,” he said.

    Siddiqui is an alumnus of Jamia Millia Islamia.

    He won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 and worked for Reuters news agency.

    The photojournalist was killed on Friday in the town of Spin Boldak, near the border with Pakistan.

    He was embedded with Afghanistan special forces at the time of his death.

    Earlier in the day, the university said in a statement, “Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) Vice Chancellor accepted the request of the family of late photojournalist Danish Siddiqui to bury his body at the JMI graveyard meant exclusively for university employees, their spouses and minor child.”

    Siddiqui’s father Akhtar Siddiqui was the Dean of Faculty of Education there.

  • Photojournalist Danish Siddiqui to be buried at Jamia Millia Islamia graveyard

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Slain photojournalist Danish Siddiqui will be laid to rest at the Jamia Millia Islamia graveyard, according to a statement on Sunday.

    “Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) Vice Chancellor accepted the request of the family of late photojournalist Danish Siddiqui to bury his body at the JMI graveyard meant exclusively for university employees, their spouses and minor child,” the university said in the statement.

    Siddiqui had done his masters from the university.

    His father Akhtar Siddiqui was the Dean of Faculty of Education there.

    Danish Siddiqui had studied at AJK Mass Communication Research Centre (MCRC) from 2005 -2007.

    The Jamia Teachers’ Association (JTA) expressed condolences at the death of Danish Siddiqui.

    The Officiating Director of AJK MCRC said, “Danish was one of the brightest stars in our hall of fame and a proactive alumnus who kept returning to his alma mater to share with students his work and experiences.

    We will miss him deeply but are determined to keep his memory alive.

    ” Professor Sabeena Gadihoke said his photographs were hard-hitting but he never compromised on the dignity of those within his frames.

    “Danish had the unique ability to bestow a journalistic picture with empathy and to give dignity and grace to his subjects,” she added.

    In 2018, Danish Siddiqui was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award by MCRC.

    During the ceremony, he described being a photojournalist as both an honour and responsibility to bear witness for those who could not speak for themselves, in the hope that he could make a change for the better, the JTA said in a statement.

    JTA president Professor Majid Jamil described his death as a big loss to journalism and the Jamia community.

    Siddiqui, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018, worked for Reuters news agency and was killed on Friday in the town of Spin Boldak, near the border with Pakistan.

    He was embedded with Afghan special forces at the time of his death.

  • ‘An irreplaceable loss’: Editors Guild condoles death of Danish Siddiqui in Afghanistan

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Editors Guild of India (EGI) on Saturday condoled the death of Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui in Afghanistan, saying his demise was “an irreplaceable loss” to journalism.

    In a joint statement, the Press Association and the Indian Women Press Corps said Siddiqui’s death while on duty in a conflict situation has once again highlighted the poor safety conditions of the scribes.

    They also condemned the “hateful campaign” being run against Siddiqui on social media after his demise.

    Siddiqui, in his early 40s, was killed in Afghanistan on Friday while covering the fighting between Afghan troops and the Taliban.

    “We condemn the killing of Danish Siddiqui. His demise on duty in conflict situations has once again highlighted the poor safety conditions of the scribes,” read the joint statement.

    “We pray for the departed soul. We also condemn the hateful campaign running on social media after his death,” the journalist bodies added.

    The Guild, in a statement, said, “EGI condoles the death of Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist on July 16 in Afghanistan, while he was covering a clash between Afghan security forces and the Taliban near a border crossing with Pakistan.”

    “Siddiqui’s death is an irreplaceable loss to journalism.”

    At the same time, the Guild said it is “deeply disturbed by the vicious and highly regrettable racist campaign” being run against him by some sections of the social media.

    His death is an occasion to remember him and all the journalists who have died in conflict reporting, it said.

    Over the past decade, Siddiqui had covered some of the most heart-wrenching stories of conflict and humanitarian crisis from South Asia and the surrounding regions, the EGI noted.

    It said his work was a living testament to the axiom of photojournalism, “if your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough”.

    “Siddiqui’s death is a stern reminder of the great risks journalists take to report from the frontline of conflict,” it added.

  • Behind passionate photojournalist, a calm and quiet son: Father remembers Danish Siddiqui

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: “He was an extremely emotional person,” said Mohammad Akhtar Siddiqui in a voice full of grief and pride as he remembered his “brilliant and dashing” photojournalist son, Danish Siddiqui.

    Danish Siddiqui, in his early 40s, was killed during clashes in Spin Boldak district in Afghanistan’s Kandahar on Friday, Tolo News quoted sources as saying.

    It said fierce fighting has been going on in Kandahar, especially in Spin Boldak, for the last few days.

    The Indian journalist was covering the situation in Kandahar.

    “He was a very calm and quiet, a very loving son. He loved children a lot. A very emotional person,” the retired Jamia professor said a day after the grim news of Danish Siddiqui’s death, something no father would want to hear in his life, reached Delhi.

    Talking about his work that required him to be in life-threatening situations, Akhtar Siddiqui said the family got used to his work life over the years.

    “We used to tell him in the beginning what was the need for such a job, but we almost got used to it. He’d tell us they have security, they travel with full protection. We only told him to maintain all precautions,” he told PTI.

    In the last one year, Danish Siddiqui extensively covered the COVID-19 pandemic across the country.

    “He was a brilliant and dashing chap. He had a lot of commitment towards his work, passion to face challenges. Even during the pandemic, Delhi riots, he reported the facts despite the challenges,” he said.

    “Passionate and energetic” as a child, Akhtar Siddiqui remembered, Danish would finish with perfection whatever he set his mind to.

    “He was extraordinarily courageous,” the father said before his voice trailed off.

    Danish Siddiqui’s work as a photojournalist with Reuters news agency since 2011 involved reporting on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Rohingya refugee crisis, the protest in Hong Kong and earthquakes in Nepal.

    Based in Mumbai, he had received the Pulitzer Prize as part of the photography staff of the news agency.

    He graduated with a degree in Economics from Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi.

    He had a degree in Mass Communication from the AJK MCRC in Jamia in 2007.

    Starting his career as a television news correspondent, he switched to photojournalism and joined Reuters as an intern in 2010.

  • Danish Siddiqui: A gem of a person for well-wishers, colleagues

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  “If a picture is worth a thousand words, his were worth millions. … He will never be forgotten,” mourned Professor Farhat Basir Khan, who taught Danish Siddiqui at Jamia Millia Islamia University.

    Khan is not alone. For Jamia faculty, friends, and colleagues, the loss of the man who shot some of the most iconic pictures in the recent years was personal. “Danish was special not because of his professional achievements but because of the wonderful man he was. He was one of those alumni who kept regular touch with the photography department and visited the campus often,” Professor Shohini Ghosh said.

    Siddiqui had completed his MA from AJK Mass Communication Research Centre in 2007. While Dr Sabeena Gadihoke admitted that the teaching community was still in shock, Professor Suhail Akhatar asserted many of his student’s works would be remembered as iconic images.

    Siddiqui’s father Akhtar Siddiqui himself is a retired professor of Jamia. “I am not in a state to talk,” he said, adding that he spoke to his son two days ago and talked about the assignment in Afghanistan.

    Few exceptional photographs which photojournalist @dansiddiqui had taken during India’s trystAllah Rahem #DanishSiddiqui  pic.twitter.com/DPAdx6dwem
    — Dr Kafeel Khan (@drkafeelkhan) July 16, 2021

    Fellow lensmen vouched for Siddiqui’s professionalism. “There is no photo journalist like him. He was the best in India. Be it professionally or personally, he was a great human being. He will always be in our hearts and his work,” said Reuters photographer Adnan Abidi, who won Pulitzer with Siddiqui. PTI’s Arun Sharma remembered Siddiqui as a gem of a person, soft spoken and down to earth. “Journalists usually take photos, write stories and forget. Siddiqui connected with them and made sure that that they are safe.”

  • Danish Siddiqui: Creator of iconic images trolled even in death

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  The news of  Reuters photojournalist and Pulitzer prize winner Danish Siddiqui’s death drew strange reactions from right wing extremists on social media on Friday. During the second wave of Covid-19, Siddiqui had photographed a funeral ground where mass cremations were taking place.

    They showed the scale of the pandemic and grieving family members. Soon after, he was trolled viciously, with  right wing extremists saying the snaps showed India in a poor light. Using expletives, one account user named Yoda wrote on Friday: “Last took photos of Hindu cremations at the peak of 2nd wave and splashed it across foreign media to not only demean India but also to degrade Hinduism.”

    Another account user Rishabh wrote: “This probably the best news today (sic). Took these drone shots. Very good. Got what he deserved.” Siddiqui had taken a drone shot of a funeral ground in the national capital during the second wave of the pandemic.  Anand Shridhar wrote: “Siddiqui violated the sacred funeral rites of hundreds of Hindus with his drone stunt to build a narrative.”

    There were more. One Bikram wrote: “Okay. We will celebrate deaths of people like Danish Siddiqui. Now cope.” Kaushal B, who claims to be a writer and ABVP Jalandhar activist on his Twitter bio, wrote: “Sorry to say! But I feel no such mourning & grievance with the death of Siddiqui.”

    However, there were several who expressed grief. Former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah condemned the trolling. “That @dansiddiqui was killed by the Taliban while doing his job in Afghanistan is tragic but the fact that there are b******s out there celebrating his death because Danish was good at his job & made them uncomfortable is beyond reprehensible. Rot in hell RW trolls.”

    Celebrating the pictures Siddiqui took, Amber Ajay Tiwari wrote: “He told stories through his pictures. He fought for the oppressed with his lens. What a great photojournalist he was. His death has proven that the Taliban of all colours must not be forgotten.”

  • Body of Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui handed over by Taliban to Red Cross: Sources

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The body of Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, killed in Kandahar in Afghanistan, has been handed over by the Taliban to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), sources said on Friday.

    India has been informed about the handing over of the body by the Taliban to the ICRC and Indian authorities are working on bringing it back, they said.

    Siddiqui was killed in Kandahar on Friday while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters.

    “We have been informed that the body has been handed over by the Taliban to the ICRC. We are actively facilitating the return of the body in coordination with Afghan authorities and the ICRC,” said a source.

    The sources said the Indian embassy in Kabul is in touch with Afghan authorities to bring back Siddiqui’s mortal remains.

    Earlier, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the government is in touch with the photojournalist’s family.

    Afghanistan’s Tolo News, quoting sources, reported that Siddiqui was killed during clashes in Spin Boldak district in Kandahar.

    It said fierce fighting has been underway in Kandahar, especially in Spin Boldak, for the last few days.

    Afghanistan witnessed a series of terror attacks in the last few weeks as the US withdrew the majority of its troops from the country and aimed to complete the drawdown by August 31, ending nearly two-decade of its military presence in the country.

    The Taliban was evicted from power by the US-led forces in 2001.

    Now, as the US is pulling back its troops, the Taliban fighters are attempting to gain control of various parts of the country.