Srinagar: Pulitzer winning Kashmiri photojournalist Sanna Irshad Mattoo was on Saturday stopped by authorities at the Delhi airport and barred from flying to France for a book launch and photo exhibition, she said. In a Twitter post, Sanna said she was stopped at the immigration desk at Delhi airport while trying to board a flight to the French capital Paris where she was to participate in the exhibition as one of 10 award winners of the Serendipity Arles grant 2020.
"I was scheduled to travel from Delhi to Paris today for a book launch and photography exhibition as one of 10 award winners of the Serendipity Arles grant 2020. Despite procuring a French visa, I was stopped at the immigration desk at Delhi airport," Sanna tweeted. She further said that she was not given any reason but was told that she would not be able to travel internationally.
Also read: 28-year-old Sana Irshad Mattoo wins Pulitzer, third Kashmiri to join the club
This is not the first time a Kashmiri journalist has been barred from traveling outside India. In 2019, a senior Kashmiri journalist Gowhar Geelani was not allowed to board a flight to Germany. Just like Sanna, Gowhar too wasn’t given any written order on why he had been stopped. Sanna won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize award in Feature Photography 2022 category announced on May 10 this year.
She shared the award alongside the Reuters team including late Danish Siddiqui, Adnan Abidi, and Amit Dave for the coverage of Covid-19 crisis in India. Sanna is a resident of Srinagar and is a post-graduate in Convergent Journalism from the Central University of Kashmir. Her works have been published in national and international media publications such as Al Jazeera, The Nation, Time, TRT World, South China Morning Post, and Caravan Magazine. In 2021, Sanna had become the Magnum Foundation's 'Photography and Social Justice Fellow'. She has been working with Reuters for the past two years.
