In ‘darkest times’, Kashmiri photojournalists Mukhtar, Yasin win Pulitzer

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 5

The coverage of 2019 lockdown of Kashmir valley, when reporting of events was extraordinarily difficult as communication lines were snapped, has won Pulitzer award for two Kashmiri photojournalists and their colleague in Jammu.

Mukhtar Khan and Dar Yasin, who work for the Associated Press, won the globally prestigious Pulitzer Prize in Feature Photography along with Channi Anand of Jammu.

Also read: 3 J-K photojournalists win 2020 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography

The highly-acclaimed journalist award, which was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer, is administered by Columbia University.

Both residents of Srinagar city, Khan and Yasin have been part of Associated Press teams in the region for nearly two decades and have covered all major events. The duo has also worked on assignments in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

'It’s overwhelming'

Immediately after winning the prize, Yasin said it was a “privilege beyond any we could have ever imagined”. “It’s an honour,” he said, “it’s overwhelming to receive this honour”.

Yasin, who started his career as a freelance videographer with Associated Press, joined the international news agency as its staff photographer in 2006. During a career that has taken him around places, Yasin has covered major events including the Rohingya crisis and the war in Afghanistan.

'It’s an honour'

Khan, who is with Associated Press since 2000, has been a regular face at events in Kashmir — whether it is the scene of gunfights, militant funerals or protests.

“This award is an honour for us,” he said. “I could never have imagined it in my life time, it could have also been impossible without my family, both at home and AP,” he said.

'Darkest times'

The Pulitzer Prize to the two Kashmiri journalists has come at a time when photographers and reporters in the region are battling intense scrutiny from security agencies and at least two of them have been booked under stringent ant-terror law.

Masrat Zahra, a young photojournalist who was last month booked under an anti-terror legislator for sharing her work on social media, said it was “a moment of pride for all of us”.

“It's the global recognition of ground reality in Kashmir,” she said.

Another photojournalist said, ‘This comes at the darkest times.”