Pulitzer-Winner Sanna Mattoo Stopped From Travelling to Paris 'Without a Reason'

“I was not given any reason but told I would not be able to travel internationally,” Mattoo said.

Sanna Irshad Mattoo, a Pulitzer-winning photojournalist, was reportedly stopped by immigration authorities while trying to fly to Paris from Delhi.

(Photo: The Quint)

Sanna Irshad Mattoo, a Pulitzer-winning photojournalist, was reportedly stopped by immigration authorities while trying to fly to Paris from Delhi.

After the incident, Mattoo tweeted saying, “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 said.

Speaking to The Quint, she said "Without any justification or reason, I have been prevented from travelling. I was stopped at Immigration, and they told me that they don't know the reasons. The police officials from Kashmir have apparently asked that I be stopped, this is what I was told by the immigration officials. I am currently still at Delhi Airport."

"My exhibition in Paris begins on the 4th of July, and this is something I was awaiting eagerly. Yet I am being prevented from being able to go there, without any reason," Mattoo said.

Earlier in May 2022, Mattoo had won the Pulitzer Prize, becoming the first woman from Jammu and Kashmir to get the prestigious prize in journalism.

She shared the award with the Reuters team, including the late Danish Siddiqui, Amit Dave, and Adnan Abidi, for their coverage of the COVID-19 crisis in India.

In 2021, she was awarded a fellowship at the prestigious Magnum Foundation.