MUMBAI, India — A Kashmiri photojournalist who was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize this May has been barred by the Indian authorities from traveling to the United States to receive her award, the latest case of brazen harassment of the country’s news media.
The photographer, Sanna Irshad Mattoo, was awarded the Pulitzer for her role in coverage by the news agency Reuters of India’s devastation last year during the second wave of Covid-19. She said immigration officers at the New Delhi airport had pulled her aside on Tuesday and stamped her airline ticket “canceled without prejudice,” offering no explanation.
Ms. Mattoo had a valid visa to the United States, as well as an invitation to attend the Pulitzer award ceremony on Thursday. Her Reuters colleagues who were traveling with her — who are not from the disputed Kashmir region — were allowed to board the flight.
It was the second time in recent months that Ms. Mattoo, 28, had been stopped from traveling at the New Delhi airport. In July, the authorities turned her away as she tried to travel to Paris for another ceremony. “I wrote to many concerned departments if there is anything against me, any order,” Ms. Mattoo said. “But no response.”
In a statement, Reuters said it had “not been offered an official explanation as to why she has not been allowed to leave the country.”
This story was originally published in nytimes.com. Read the full story here