Achievers

Srinagar based journalist Marouf Gazi bags third NWMI Fellowship

Srinagar: Srinagar-based journalist Marouf Gazi, 26, has been conferred with the Third NWMI Fellowship (Network for Women in India), instituted to support women journalists working in various kinds of challenging situations.

Gazi is presently working as a senior reporter with the Free Press Kashmir.

According to NWMI they received 28 applications from Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand. The applicants belonged to various minorities, marginalized communities like Adivasis and Dalits, and also represented a range of media forms – print, online, television, radio and community media.

Most of the applicants live and work in remote areas and in very challenging political and economic situations. All of them highlighted the difficulties of pursuing journalism as a career due to gender and other barriers.

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“Though faced with a difficult choice, the NWMI Fellowship Selection Committee unanimously decided to confer this year’s fellowship on Srinagar-based Marouf Gazi in recognition of her exceptional work spanning a range of topics from Kashmiri women’s resistance and human rights in the Kashmir Valley to less talked about issues like domestic violence and Kashmiri fashion design. Her rigorous work in an extremely challenging environment for women journalists shows immense promise,” NWMI said in their statement.

“We often face internet shutdowns here. Although I manage to connect through Wifi, it still affects my job. The strikes or sudden curfews are a part of my life. We try to write about it and stay objective but we are a part of the conflict and it’s challenging most of the times. I am honoured to be selected to be an NWMI Fellow, and this fellowship will help me amplify the undocumented voices of women and tell their stories,” said Marouf.

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