The Delhi Congress has written to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal demanding Rs. 1 crore financial assistance for the family members of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Reuters photojournalist Danish Siddiqui. The globally reputed journalist was killed in a Taliban attack in Spin Boldak area of Afghanistan.
Writing to Kejriwal, according to news agency PTI, Delhi Congress chief Anil Chaudhary wrote, “Danish Siddiqui was a celebrated photojournalist whose photograph of mass cremation of Covid dead bodies in Delhi had attracted international attention, calling the bluff of both the Modi and the Arvind Kejriwal governments about the number of actual Covid fatalities during the second wave of the pandemic in the capital.”
The statement from the Delhi Congress chief added, “A financial reward to his family will be a befitting tribute to this brave man, who had earned name and fame not only for himself and Delhi, but also for the country as a whole, with his matchless photographs, which spoke a thousand words without uttering a word.”
दिल्ली कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष @Ch_AnilKumarINC ने दिल्ली के मुख्यमंत्री अरविन्द केजरीवाल को पत्र लिखकर फोटो जर्नलिस्ट दानिश सिद्दकी को एक करोड़ की सम्मान राशि और दिल्ली सरकार द्वारा सर्वोच्च नागरिक सम्मान दिए जाने का अनुरोध किया।
— Delhi Congress (@INCDelhi) July 23, 2021
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had called Danish’s father to express his condolences on Thursday afternoon.
Danish was responsible for bringing global attention to the second wave of the pandemic gripping India through his powerful photographs and videos. He had also exposed the government’s inept handling of the human tragedy that caused hundreds of thousands of people to die due to lack of access to basic healthcare and oxygen.
The 38-year-old globally-renowned photojournalist had won the Pulitzer award for his photographs on Rohingya immigrants arriving at the shores of Bangladesh.
Hindutva fanatics had celebrated the journalist’s death, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ministers had to face condemnation for condoling the passing of a globally renowned Indian journalist.