Masrat Zahra
مسرت زہرہ
Zahra in 2020
Born
Masrat Zahra

(1993-12-08) 8 December 1993 (age 30)
Hawal, Jammu and Kashmir, India
NationalityIndian
CitizenshipIndian
Alma materCentral University of Kashmir
OccupationPhotojournalist
Awards

Masrat Zahra (born 8 December 1993) is a Kashmiri freelance photojournalist from Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. She covers stories about local communities and women. She won the 2020 "Anja Niedringhaus Courage" in Photojournalism award from International Women's Media Foundation and Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and the Ethical Journalism 2020.

Biography

Masrat Zahra was born on 8 December 1993 in Hawal, Jammu and Kashmir, into a Kashmiri Muslim family.[1][2][3] Her father is a truck driver and mother is a homemaker.[2] She studied journalism at the Central University of Kashmir.[1] She photographs the Kashmir conflict and her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New Humanitarian, TRT World, Al Jazeera, The Caravan, The Sun, The News Arab, and The World Weekly.[4][5][1] She experiences constant resistance based on her job and gender as she is one of a small group of female photojournalists in the region.[6]

In April 2018, Zahra was labelled as a police informer after she shared an image from an encounter site on her Facebook.[7][8] On 3 August 2019, before the clampdown in India's Jammu and Kashmir state, she was asked to submit work for Journalists Under Fire, an exhibition in New York city which was organised by United Photo Industries and St Ann's Warehouse in collaboration with Committee to Protect Journalists. On the same day, she was contacted by a French magazine for assignments with Real Kashmir F.C., a sports magazine. Due to a communications blackout that started on 5 August 2019, these offers could not be fulfilled.[9] In April 2020, the Jammu and Kashmir Police named Zahra in an FIR under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which is normally used for targeting terrorists.[14] The police said they had been informed that Zahra was uploading "anti-national posts" to Facebook with "criminal intention to induce the youth", whereas she had only uploaded her published photographs.[15] The move was condemned by 450 activists and scholars as an instance of targeting of journalists.[14]

Awards

In 2020, Zahra won the Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism award from the International Women's Media Foundation.[16][17][4] She was awarded with Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism 2020 for "telling [stories] of the women of Kashmir."[18]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Majid Maqbool (25 August 2018). "Kashmir through the female gaze". The Hindu. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  2. ^ a b "In Kashmir, an empty bed signifies a life lost". Al Jazeera English. 20 January 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  3. ^ Maqbool, Majid (25 August 2018). "Kashmir through the female gaze". The Hindu. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  4. ^ a b Rebecca Staudenmaier (11 June 2020). "Kashmir conflict photographer Masrat Zahra wins top photojournalism award". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  5. ^ Bilal Kuchay (20 April 2020). "Kashmir journalist charged for 'anti-national' social media posts". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  6. ^ "Masrat Zahra". International Women's Media Foundation.
  7. ^ RAHIBA R. PARVEEN (16 May 2018). "Woman photojournalist who covered Kashmir encounter labelled as police informer". ThePrint. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  8. ^ "In India, Kashmiri photojournalist faces harassment, threats". Committee to Protect Journalists. 22 May 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  9. ^ "Capturing Kashmir". The Caravan. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  10. ^ "'State Has Hounded Masrat Zahra': 450 Activists, Scholars Condemn UAPA Use on Journalists". The Wire. 27 April 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  11. ^ Sareer Khalid (20 April 2020). "جموں کشمیر کی پہلی اور واحد خاتون فوٹو جرنلسٹ پر ملک دشمن سرگرمیوں کے الزام میں مقدمہ" [Charges against first and alone female photojournalist of Jammu and Kashmir]. Roznama Rashtriya Sahara (in Urdu). Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  12. ^ Shafaq Shah (20 April 2020). "'Don't Know What To Say, How To React': Kashmiri Journalist Booked For 'Anti-National' Posts". HuffPost. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  13. ^ AZAAN JAVAID (20 April 2020). "I'm speechless, says J&K journalist Masrat Zahra after being booked for 'anti-national' posts". ThePrint. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  14. ^ a b [10][11][12][13]
  15. ^ "Who is Kashmiri journalist Masrat Zahra? Why was she booked under UAPA?". The Free Press Journal. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  16. ^ "Anja Niedringhaus Courage In Photojournalism Award". International Women's Media Foundation. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  17. ^ "Masrat Zahra Wins Top Photojournalism Award". Kashmir Observer. 11 June 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  18. ^ "Journalist Masrat Zahra wins 2020 Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism". The Kashmir Walla. 22 August 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
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