Photojournalist who shone light on pandemic killed in Afghanistan clashes

AwardWinning photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was killed while covering the clashes between Afghan security forces and the Taliban in Kandahar Afghanistan on Friday His father professor Akhtar Siddiqui told midday that he got to know of Danishrsquos death from Reuters where he was employed ldquoI canrsquot translate my pain in wordsrdquo Akhtar said Danishrsquos colleagues said the passionate photojournalistrsquos pictures always brought forth the human elementHe was covering the situation in Kandahar for the past few days On Friday Reuters informed me that my son was killed Then I spoke to the Ministry of External Affairs MEA whose officials said the mortal remains will soon be brought to Delhi from the war zonerdquo Akhtar said Danish was embedded with the Afghan security forces as part of his assignmentThe eldest of three siblings Danish was based out of Mumbai until two years ago when he returned to Delhi He had won the Pulitzer Prize for his workAkhtar added ldquoI last spoke to him the day before yesterday He loved covering war zones He used to narrate stories about his workrdquo Akhtar is a former chairperson of the National Council for Teachers Education and a professor at Jamia Millia Islamia UniversityDanishrsquos colleague from Reutersrsquos Delhi office requesting anonymity said ldquoIt is a huge loss to journalism as he was a Pulitzer Prize winner He was very passionate about his workrdquoThe photojournalist completed his BA in Economics from Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi and later studied Mass Communication from AJK Mass Communication and Research Centre at Jamia in 2007Danish Siddiqui covered the monsoon floods and landslides of 2013 in Uttarakhand PicAPHe is married to a German national and the couple has two daughters said his family friends who thronged to his Delhi residence Gaffar Manzil near Batla House of south Delhi ldquoHis wife and children were in Germany They are on their way to Delhirdquo Akhtar saidDanishrsquos careerTV journalist Aditya Raj Kaul told midday that Danish was initially a TV journalist and later became a photographerldquoHe joined Reuters as a photographer in 2010 and covered conflicts in Iraq Afghanistan Myanmar and other places He liked his pictures to speak His work was completely different His photos would reflect the human elementrdquo said Kaul who worked with Danish on many national and international assignments ldquoWhile covering the pandemic he gently portrayed the hospital bed crisis and the helplessness of people in his photographsrdquo Kaul saidldquoAs a TV journalist I had gone to cover the Uttarkhand disaster in 2013 when thousands of people had died in the cloudburst There were many journalists including Danish who worked silently and got tremendous picturesrdquo Kaul saidldquoI think he took a lot of risk while covering international war crimes which many journalists may not dordquo said KaulAlways had a cameraA senior journalist NB Nair told midday that Danish joined an electronic media house in Delhi as a reporter ldquoI was an executive producer and he was a TV reporter I must say he was a reluctant TV reporter as his passion was clicking photographs He always carried a camera with himrdquo Nair told middayldquoHe covered war zones was a daring and passionate photojournalist with an eye for news He has clicked telltale photographs of the Delhi Riots the Rohingya crisis the Covid19 pandemic several war zonesrdquo Nair saidldquoHis pictures like that of the Delhi crematorium with numerous burning pyres tell us a lot During the antiCAA protest in Delhi he clicked excellent photographs We have lost him too soonrdquo Nair saidSiddiquirsquos neighbour and family friend Saud Ahmed said he could not believe it when he heard of Danishrsquos killing ldquoHe was like a son to me We have lost him too young His house is next to mine in Gaffar Manzil but I could not muster the courage to speak to his father His parents are shatteredrdquo said Ahmed a former civil servantThe final assignmentSiddiqui in his early 40s was on an assignment covering the clashes in the volatile Kandahar region as the US withdraws its forces from Afghanistan ahead of the August 31 deadline set by US President Joe BidenAfghan special forces had been fighting to retake the main market area of Spin Boldak when Siddiqui and a senior Afghan officer were killed in ldquoTaliban crossfirerdquo an Afghan commander told Reuters Reuters President Michael Friedenberg and EditorinChief Alessandra Galloni in a statement said they are working with authorities in the regionMinistry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said ldquoOur Ambassador in Kabul is in touch with Afghan authorities We are keeping his family informed of the developmentsrdquoAfghanistanrsquos ambassador to India Farid Mamundzay said he was deeply disturbed by the news of ldquothe killing of a friendrdquo ldquoI met him 2 weeks ago before his departure to Kabul Condolences to his family amp ReutersrdquoAlso Read Body of Danish Siddiqui handed over by Taliban to Red Cross SourcesWith Agency inputs