Mukhtar Khan and Dar Yasin, photojournalists working with the Associated Press have been awarded the Pulitzer Prize 2020 for covering the Kashmir conflict, especially after the abrogation of Article 370. Channi Anand, another Jammu based photographer has been awarded the prize too. The trio has been awarded the prize in Feature Photography.
Both Yasin and Mukhtar Khan have a career spanning over two decades, Yasin has covered conflicts in Afghanistan, Myanmar among many others. Mukhar has been covering the Kashmir conflict since the early 2000s while Channi has been covering development and conflict in Jammu province of the union territory.
Named after Joseph Pulitzer, the prize is awarded for the highest achievements in various fields including Journalism. Yasin and Mukhtar are the first journalists from Kashmir to be awarded this prestigious prize.
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Soon after the news spread, Kashmiri social media erupted in joy. Journalists from the Valley have called it a victory for the profession. Some social media users even compared the event to the Muslim holy festival, Eid. “Kashmir has a Pulitzer Prize,” wrote an award-winning author, local news outlets also carried similar headlines. Yasin and Mukhtar thanked the people of the valley and their colleagues on Twitter.
The Associated Press President and CEO Gary Pruitt called it an honour. While talking to AP he said, “This honour continues AP’s great tradition of award-winning photography.” He further added that the world was aware of the happenings in Kashmir because of the AP team. “Thanks to the team inside Kashmir, the world was able to witness a dramatic escalation of the long struggle over the region’s independence. Their work was important and superb,” he added.
Commenting on his award, Dar Yasin told AP that, “It’s not the story of the people I am shooting, only, but it’s my story.”
Here are some of the Pulitzer winning photographs taken by Dar Yasin, Mukhtar Khan, and Channi Anand.
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