New Delhi: A Pulitzer-winning photojournalist belonging to Jammu and Kashmir was stopped at the airport in Delhi from boarding a Paris-bound flight.
Sanna Irshad Mattoo, the Pulitzer prize winner stated this in a tweet claiming that she was not even given any reason.
She shared a photo of her boarding pass on Twitter that had a stamp with red saying “cancelled without prejudice”.
However, Mattoo said that she was not told why she was not allowed to fly out to France.
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In a tweet she wrote, “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.”
She added, “I was not given any reason but told I would not be able to travel internationally.”
However, some reports stated that Mattoo was not allowed to board the flight as the Jammu and Kashmir Police had an active look-out notice against her.
The action was condemned by a Jammu and Kashmir journalists’ collective.
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The Journalist Federation of Kashmir tweeted, “Several have been hounded in the name of the so-called ‘travel restriction list,’ existence of which has never been confirmed nor denied officially.”
It added, “Journalists in Kashmir have always worked under perilous conditions, holding up values of press freedom in the face of dangers to life and liberty…We protest the harassment of Ms Mattoo and stand in solidarity with her.”