New Delhi: Another Kashmiri journalist was on Tuesday barred from travelling abroad as authorities at IGI airport in New Delhi stamped his boarding pass with ‘cancelled without prejudice’.
“Immigration officials at IGI airport New Delhi barred me from boarding a flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka. I was headed to report on the current crises in the country. The immigration officials took my passport, boarding pass and have made me sit in a room for last four hours,” Journalist Aakash Hassan wrote on his Twitter handle.
“After making me wait for five hours, without providing even water to drink. I have been handed over my passport and boarding pass with a red rejection stamp: ‘Cancelled Without Prejudice,” he mentioned.
The journalist was scheduled to travel to Sri Lanka to cover the ongoing crisis in the country.
In another tweet, the journalist said, “The officials are not giving any me any reason for why I am not allowed. A staff from the airlines I was travelling in told me that officials have directed them to offload my luggage from the aircraft. I was questioned by two officials about my background, travel purpose”.
Earlier this month, Kashmiri photojournalist Sanna Irshad Mattoo was denied permission to travel abroad for a scheduled photography exhibition in Paris.
In a tweet, Mattoo, had said, “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,” the journalist added.
As per the journalist, she was not given any reason as to why the journalist was not allowed to board the international flight.
Pertinently, in May this year, Mattoo won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize award in the Feature Photography 2022 category for the coverage of COVID crisis in India.
Free Press Kashmir is now on Telegram. Click here to Join.
FPK Android App for 2G. Click here to Download.
