The Pulitzer Centre's citation bestowing its 2020 award for Feature Photography on Channi Anand, Mukhtar Khan and Dar Yasin, the three Kashmiri photographers of the Associated Press, states, "For striking images captured during a communications blackout in Kashmir depicting life in the contested territory after India stripped it of its semi-autonomy." Yet nine out of the 20 photographs of Kashmir displayed as Winning Work on the Pulitzer website predate August 5, the day on which Article 370 was read down and Kashmir's special status terminated.

Hardliners on Kashmir have quibbled over the imprecise language of the citation to express outrage against the Pulitzer. Their rage, in fact, is a manifestation of their own diffidence – they want the world to endorse India's policies in Kashmir, but they fear the Pulitzer has undermined Delhi's efforts in this regard.