Kashmir based journalist Yusuf Jameel has been selected to receive the prestigious PEN-Gauri Lankesh Award for 2019-2020. The announcement was made on January 29 on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Gauri Lankesh, a fearless journalist who was gunned down in cold blood by right-wing extremists.
In a press release the organisers said, “The 2019-2020 PEN-Gauri Lankesh Award for Democratic Idealism is awarded to Yusuf Jameel. His work in journalism shows an exemplary commitment to professional integrity and the ideals of democracy.” Jameel started his career as a journalist with Aftab, the Srinagar-based Urdu daily, in the early 1980s. Since then, he has worked for various newspapers and media agencies including The Telegraph, BBC, Reuters, Time, Voice of America and The Asian Age. The statement adds, “In the context of rising insurgency in the Kashmir valley in the late eighties and the nineties and the very complex conflict scenario that has evolved since, his work as a reporter pioneered fearless and candid journalism in Jammu and Kashmir. As a print and radio journalist working in both Urdu and English languages for over three and a half decades, his work shows a deep level of social engagement and concern and has contributed immensely to the traditions of fair and courageous reportage.”
Offered annually on the birth anniversary of Gauri Lankesh, it carries a citation and a cash prize of Rs. One Lakh. Jameel was chosen by a jury of scholar Chandan Gowda, editor Vinutha Mallya and poet Asiya Zahoor. The jury is established afresh each year. The award was instituted by PEN South India and PEN Delhi to remember the Lankesh Patrike editor who was assassinated in 2017. PEN was founded in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers. PEN defends the rights of writers internationally. PEN has three centres in India – Delhi, Bombay and South India. PEN South India was founded in 2017 and is based out of a different city each year.