Danish Siddiqui | SabrangIndia News Related to Human Rights Sat, 11 Sep 2021 18:29:32 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.2 https://sabrangindia.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Favicon_0.png Danish Siddiqui | SabrangIndia 32 32 A tribute to Danish Siddiqui (May 19, 1983 – July 16, 2021)  https://sabrangindia.in/tribute-danish-siddiqui-may-19-1983-july-16-2021/ Sat, 11 Sep 2021 18:29:32 +0000 http://localhost/sabrangv4/2021/09/11/tribute-danish-siddiqui-may-19-1983-july-16-2021/ India’s leading photojournalists share iconic photographs of their careers, in a tribute to their slain colleague, and as a salute to photojournalism

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]]> First published on: September 3, 2021
 

Danish

Pulitzer prize winning photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, was killed on duty while covering the violent clashes in Afghanistan. Siddiqui’s work documented the developing situation in the country, and almost foretold the events that were yet to unfold. 

SabrangIndia, in association with Brihanmumbai Union of Journalists (BUJ) have curated an evolving photo exhibition to pay tribute to Danish Siddiqui. It may be viewed here:

https://sabrang.com/tribute-to-danish/ 

On display are rare images shot by leading Indian documentary photographers including Prashant Panjiar, Vijay Pandey, Faisal Khan, Sudhakar Olwe, Saurabh Kumar and many images of socio-cultural and political significance from the SabrangIndia archives. These images were shot across India, documenting history as it unfolded in Kashmir, Bombay (now Mumbai), Gujarat, Delhi and elsewhere. 

The photographs document communal violence, breaking news, humanitarian crises, and tell the story without sensationalism. These photojournalists are witnesses to history. They are storytellers who have often risked their own lives, just so that the truth can be told.   

Danish Siddiqui was killed in the line of duty – for being a journalist and for documenting the truth as it unfolded in Kandahar in Afghanistan on July 16, 2021. He was covering the clashes between Afghan forces and the Taliban. Siddiqui’s death also highlighted the extreme danger journalists, especially photo and video journalists, across the world face while on the job in conflict zones. It showed the world how regimes target the media, and often silence it, so that there is an information blackout and the truth gets buried. 

However, journalists are seeds, even if buried, they sprout a new generation that carries the legacy forward.

This online photo exhibition is also a tribute to photojournalism, and documentary photography. It is an evolving one, and photographers are invited to join in and contribute to the exhibition by sharing a selection of iconic images that they have clicked, with captions. You may email us your Photos & Information at: sabrangind@gmail.com. 

 

Related:

Journalists are targeted by all hardliner regimes, this time in Afghanistan

Why are so many people mourning Danish Siddiqui?

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]]> Why are so many people mourning Danish Siddiqui? https://sabrangindia.in/why-are-so-many-people-mourning-danish-siddiqui/ Mon, 19 Jul 2021 08:23:51 +0000 http://localhost/sabrangv4/2021/07/19/why-are-so-many-people-mourning-danish-siddiqui/ The photographs he took showed truth to power, and had empathy with the common man

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]]> MournImage Courtesy:indiatvnews.com

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi may not  have found time to make a public statement on the brutal killing of Pultizer winning Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, visuals of thousands who gathered at Jamia on Sunday night said more than any official words will. Danish’s mortal remains were brought home from Afghanistan, and were laid to rest on Sunday at the Jamia Millia Islamia graveyard in New Delhi. Siddiqui, one of the top photojournalists working with Reuters news agency, was killed on duty while covering clashes between the Afghanistan forces and Taliban in Kandahar.

A sea of mourners gathered to pay their last respects outside his home, and thousands more followed; the images of the final farewell that were shared on social media. Not everyone knew Danish personally, most knew his work however, and the legacy of empathy, fairness, and telling truth to power was the Danish Siddiqui legacy that was evenident. Even the photographs from his funeral were taken with respect, maintaining the dignity of the man and the family that was in deep mourning. There were some top-angle shots, and portraits which seem to reflect his own signature style. Most of all the photographs showed how even in his final moment, a good man can even unite strangers with his legacy of empathy, and humility.

 

Danish was laid to rest in the neighbourhood where he grew up, as reported by India today, the Jamia graveyard is exclusively meant for university employees, their spouses, and minor children, the university’s Vice Chancellor made an exception for the Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist. The university stated, “Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) Vice Chancellor accepted the request of the family of late photojournalist Danish Siddiqui to bury his body at the JMI graveyard meant exclusively for university employees, their spouses and minor child.” This venture, too, will have a long standing impact, as his grave will be a constant reminder of his legacy for generations of university students of the future.

Before the burial, Danish Siddiqui’s coffin was taken to his Jamia Nagar home, and crowds continued to swell outside despite the sweltering monsoon night. According to reports there was deployment of police personnel in the area. They stayed till the burial was carried out later that night.

Media bodies from across the country have issued statements and held vigils to honour a colleague who practiced the highest standards of journalism.

 

 

 

His alma mater, Jamia Millia Islamia’s AJK Mass Communication Research Centre (AJKMCRC) journalism alumni group condolences his passing saying, “We are deeply shocked and saddened by the news of Danish Siddiqui’s death. As fellow journalists, we admired his work and celebrated his success. As alumni of AJK MCRC and Jamia Millia Islamia, we are proud of his achievements. He will be remembered not just as an international award-winning photojournalist but also as a human being full of humility and kindness. Many of us have received his guidance and support — both at the university, where he returned frequently for interactions and on the field. Danish’s death is a reminder for all media organizations to prioritize journalists’ safety. We request the Indian government to support his family in this time of grave loss and help bring his remains back to the country. We extend our condolences to his family and friends. We request everyone to respect his memory by not sharing photographs of his body. Please preserve his dignity in death.” 

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has stated, “Afghan authorities must conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the killing of Reuters photojournalist Danish Siddiqui and do everything in their power to protect members of the press.” According to CPJ, Reuters President Michael Friedenberg and editor-in-chief Alessandra Galloni wrote that the agency was “urgently seeking more information” about the circumstances surrounding the journalist’s death. Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C, was quoted in the report saying, “Combatants need to take responsibility for safeguarding journalists, as dozens of journalists have been killed in this conflict, with little or no accountability.”

 

 

Related:

Danish Siddiqui’s photojournalism captured the soul of the news
Jesuits of India, journalists and academics bid Fr Stan Swamy an emotional farewell
CJP assists sister Kavitha move SC in Gauri Lankesh murder case 
From newsrooms to courtrooms
Press Freedom in India – 2021: A half-yearly report

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]]> Danish Siddiqui’s photojournalism captured the soul of the news https://sabrangindia.in/danish-siddiquis-photojournalism-captured-soul-news/ Fri, 16 Jul 2021 12:47:58 +0000 http://localhost/sabrangv4/2021/07/16/danish-siddiquis-photojournalism-captured-soul-news/ The Reuters photojournalist was killed while covering clashes between Afghan forces and Taliban in Kandahar

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]]> Photojournalist

Image Courtesy:indiatoday.in

Pulitzer prize winning photojournalist Danish Siddiqui is no more. He died on the field, doing what he did best… covering the news. Siddiqui, one of the top photojournalists working with Reuters news agency, was killed on duty in Kandahar in Afghanistan on Friday, while covering clashes between Afghan forces and the Taliban. Here’s a look through his extraordinary life and career.

Siddiqui earned his postgraduate degree from Jamia Millia Islamia’s AJK-Mass Communication Research Centre in 2007, after his graduation in Economics from the same university. Years later, his photograph of a gun wielding right wing extremist threatening to shoot peacefully protesting students at the same university went viral across the world. Siddiqui had won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize, along with his team, for his documentation of the Rohingya refugees. 

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/N1tsaZlAgkBo7LZryLuggAJzvnoVYf4W9DvLcKll-HtdeWlN0EgqMwqoc96Qj-Gi2dKDdFq3rifk99sRGTMgLAD8JaR7no7pZb-KNg3S4w06Vd77ZidIGrvFZHTwYoJq7sENLyyL

When Covid-19 raged across India, he bravely documented the tragedy as it escalated. Siddiqui’s drone shots of scores of pyres of Covid-19 victims who succumbed as the health system collapsed in Delhi, took the real story worldwide. Just like his photo of a Muslim man being beaten up by a Hindutva mob in the communal riots in Delhi, had done earler.

Danish Siddiqui, risked his own life each time he ventured into ‘ground zero’ of the events that were unfolding that day. The powerful images he clicked, and the reports he authored, are timeless archives of the biggest events that have taken place in the country in recent years. Danish Siddiqui’s work showed how news reports are not mere statistics, that each dead, injured, displaced person mentioned in the report is a human being, a citizen. 

He had covered the Covid crisis travelling to remote villages in other states, to major hospitals in Delhi, to the cremation grounds. He stayed with the story, till it reached its often tragic end. 

 

He had told his colleagues at Reuters while covering Covid-19 that it was unlike anything seen before, “Here you don’t know who you’re fighting…You don’t know the enemy and you can’t see it.” His camera captured it all, like it had done in scores of high octane assignments before, one of which had made him a part of the team that earned the Pulitzer Prize in 2018. “In a way, I am a historian as well, that’s why I have saved all those emotions exhibited by the people in front of my camera for documentation,” Danish Siddiqui had reportedly told Indiatimes after winning. His coverage of Women’s Day at the Farmer’s Protest in Delhi was amazing too. His captions were touching.

His last assignment was to cover the escalating violence in Afghanistan. He had reported on social media that the Afghan Special Forces’ vehicle he had been traveling in had been hit, but he had luckily escaped. He had reported that he had been wounded in the arm by shrapnel while reporting on the clash. According to news reports the Afghan special forces team was fighting to reclaim a market area of Spin Boldak when “Siddiqui and a senior Afghan officer were killed in what was described as Taliban crossfire.” 

According to news reports, “Siddiqui had been talking to shopkeepers when the Taliban attacked again”. Reuters President Michael Friedenberg and Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni issued a statement hailing Danish as “an outstanding journalist, a devoted husband and father, and a much-loved colleague. Our thoughts are with his family at this terrible time.” 

 

While his landmark photos told the news story as it were, with honesty, raw facts, and empathy, it also earned him the wrath of self proclaimed right wing ‘nationalists’. An army of online right wing vigilantes had trolled him viciously when the photos, especially of the Covid-19 victims’ funerals. They targeted and accused him of ‘disrespecting’ Hindu funerals, and in their abuse, tried to divert attention from the fact of many deaths, some due to lack of oxygen, and hospital beds, being laid bare before the whole world.

When news of Danish Siddiqui being killed on duty in Afghanistan, these right wing trolls turned into online vultures and feasted on the tragery. While scores of politicians, journalists, activists, and thousands of citizens mourned the death of a brave and talented journalist, there were some who celebrated. Trolls, said the photojournalist, who has a young family, was killed because of bad ‘karma’. Others tried to veil their hate for the journalist, sharing unverified photographs reportedly of his body. Clearly, even in death, Danish Siddiqui laid bare the truth of how a polarised nation exposes its own flaws.

Related:

Jesuits of India, journalists and academics bid Fr Stan Swamy an emotional farewell
CJP assists sister Kavitha move SC in Gauri Lankesh murder case 
From newsrooms to courtrooms
Press Freedom in India – 2021: A half-yearly report

The post Danish Siddiqui’s photojournalism captured the soul of the news appeared first on SabrangIndia.

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