Kashmiri journalist barred from leaving India to receive Pulitzer Prize says treatment ‘disturbing’

A Pulitzer prize-winning reporter who was barred from leaving India to receive the prestigious award in New York has accused authorities of seeking to “criminalise” journalism.

Kashmiri photojournalist Sanna Irshad Mattoo described her treatment as “disrespectful” and “very disturbing”.

The 28-year-old, who works for Reuters, won the Feature Photography Award with three colleagues last week for their coverage of Covid’s devastating toll in India.

But she was stopped by immigration officers at Delhi airport on 18 October and and prevented from travelling to Thursday’s ceremony despite holding a valid US visa and plane ticket.

She told The Independent: “When I reached the immigration counter, they took my passport and my boarding pass, then came a few officials discussing something. They told me to go with them, so I waited outside the immigration officials' room and that officer came and handed over my passport and visa, there was a stamp on my boarding pass which said 'cancelled without prejudice.'”

Ms Mattoo added: “I am a journalist and I do my work, you can’t criminalise my work, I should be allowed to travel freely to report the facts.”

It was the second time in months that the journalist, who is based in Kashmir’s largest city Srinagar, has been prevented from leaving the country by Indian authorities without explanation. It comes amid a crackdown by Narenda Modi’s government on Kashmiri journalism.

Ms Mattoo was also stopped at Delhi airport from as she travelled to Rencontres d’Arles in Paris for a book launch and photography exhibition in July.

On both occasions, she was carrying a valid passport and ticket but her boarding pass was stamped “cancelled without prejudice”.

Ms Mattoo said: “The way they are doing it, it is very disrespectful and its very disturbing at the same time. For a journalist this is huge to be the winner of the Pulitzer prize, it means a lot and then finding out you are not able to go, which is my right.”

The three journalists nominated alongside Ms Mattoo were Adnan Abidi, Amit Dave and the late Danish Siddiqui, who was killed in Afghanistan in July 2021.

Mr Abidi, Mr Dave and Siddiqui’s six-year-old son were present at the ceremony at Colombia University to collect the award.

Ms Matto will be awarded her share of the $15,000 prize to be divided equally among the journalists.

Pulitzer announced earlier in May that the Reuters quartet would claim the prize for Feature Photography.

Ms Mattoo said she had “had a feeling this would happen again” before travelling to collect the award.

A spokesperson from Pulitzer said: “We believe journalists should be able to travel freely, unimpeded by governments. This is arbitrary and represents the challenges that journalists around the world under pressure from government. She was honored with a standing ovation at the ceremony she could not attend. We hope she’ll be able to come to a future ceremony.”

Reuters said in a statement: “We are disappointed that Sanna Irshad Mattoo, a contributor to Reuters, has not been allowed to travel to the United States to receive her Pulitzer Prize in New York alongside her peers.

"We have not been offered an official explanation as to why she has not been allowed to leave the country, but we believe that journalists should be able to travel freely.”