US Rep Adam Schiff has said that he was “disturbed” to hear that Kashmiri Photojournalist Sanna Irshad Mattoo was barred from flying to accept the Pulitzer and that “efforts to harass and silence the media” must end.
Schiff is a senior figure in the Democratic Party and is viewed as a close confidant of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“Disturbed to hear Kashmiri journalist Sanna Irshad Mattoo was barred from flying to accept a Pulitzer for her coverage of COVID-19’s toll in India,” he said.
“Freedom of the press is a bedrock of any democracy. India should be no exception. Efforts to harass and silence the media must end,” Schiff added.
Earlier, the state department said that United States is aware of reports about Pulitzer-winning journalist who was prevented from travelling to the country.
“We are aware of the reports of Ms Mattoo being prevented from travelling to the US and are tracking these developments closely,” State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters at his daily news conference.
On Monday evening, immigration officials at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi stopped Mattoo, who was flying to New York to receive the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in a ceremony scheduled for Thursday.
