A Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist from Jammu and Kashmir stated that she was denied boarding a plane to Paris to attend an event.
Sanna Irshad Mattoo, a photojournalist, posted a snap of her boarding card and passport with the words "cancelled without prejudice" written in red ink. She said that she was not told why she was not allowed to go to France by the authorities.
Taking to Twitter, Mattoo said, "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."
"I was not given any reason but told I would not be able to travel internationally," she tweeted.
According to persons with firsthand knowledge of the situation, a look-out circular issued by the Jammu and Kashmir Police is active against Mattoo, which is why she was barred from travelling overseas, NDTV reported.
A lookout circular is a warning sent by law enforcement to airport and seaport officials that a person is about to leave the country.
A journalist's collective in Jammu and Kashmir has criticised the Centre's decision to prevent the Pulitzer Prize winner from travelling overseas. "Several have been harassed in the name of the ostensibly 'travel restriction list,' the existence of which has never been officially verified or refuted," the Journalist Federation of Kashmir tweeted.
"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," it said.
Mattoo and three other Indian photojournalists were awarded the Pulitzer Prize in May for their coverage of the COVID-19 outbreak, which is considered the greatest honour in world media.
