Masrat Zahra (born 8 December 1993) is a freelance photojournalist from

Srinagar Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

. She covers stories about local communities and women. She won the 2020 "Anja Niedringhaus Courage" in

Photojournalism Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

award from

International Women's Media Foundation The International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF), located in Washington, D.C., is an organization working internationally to elevate the status of women in the media. The IWMF has created programs to help women in the media develop practical so ...

and Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and the Ethical Journalism 2020.

Biography

Masrat Zahra was born on 8 December 1993 in

Hawal Hawal is a notified area of district Srinagar, the summer capital of union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is situated in the heart of the Srinagar just about from Lal Chowk Srinagar's one of the first cinemas ''Firdaus cinem ...

, into a

Kashmiri Muslim Kashmiri Muslims are ethnic Kashmiris who practice Islam and are native to the Kashmir Valley of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. Quote: "Jammu and Kashmir: Territory in northwestern India, subject to a dispute between India and Pakistan ...

family. Her father is a truck driver and mother is a homemaker. She studied journalism at the

Central University of Kashmir Central University of Kashmir (often abbreviated as CUKmr), formerly Central University of Jammu and Kashmir, is a central university in the Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It was established in March 2009 through an Act of P ...

. She photographs the

Kashmir conflict The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict over the Kashmir region, primarily between India and Pakistan, and also between China and India in the northeastern portion of the region. The conflict started after the partition of India in 1 ...

and her work has appeared in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', ''

The New Humanitarian The New Humanitarian, previously known as IRIN News, or Integrated Regional Information Networks News, is an independent, non-profit news agency. The agency states that it intends to report on stories from regions that it considers overlooked or ...

'', ''

TRT World TRT Global, previously named TRT World, is a Turkish public broadcaster which broadcasts in English 24 hours a day and is operated by the TRT and based in the Ulus quarter of Ankara. It provides worldwide news and current affairs focusing on ...

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

'', ''

The Caravan ''The Caravan'' is an Indian English-language, long-form narrative journalism magazine covering politics and culture. It was initially launched in 1940 by Vishwa Nath, becoming a prominent monthly magazine before ceasing publication in 1988. T ...

'', ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

'', ''The News Arab'', and ''The World Weekly''. She experiences constant resistance based on her job and gender as she is one of a small group of female photojournalists in the region. In April 2018, Zahra was labelled as a police informer after she shared an image from an encounter site on her Facebook. On 3 August 2019, before the

clampdown "Clampdown" is a song by the English rock band the Clash from their 1979 album ''London Calling''. The song began as an instrumental track called "Working and Waiting". It is sometimes called "Working for the Clampdown" which is the main lyric ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

state, she was asked to submit work for Journalists Under Fire, an exhibition in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

which was organised by United Photo Industries and St Ann's Warehouse in collaboration with

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The '' American Journalism ...

. On the same day, she was contacted by a French magazine for assignments with

Real Kashmir F.C. Real Kashmir Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. Incorporated in 2016, the club predominantly competes in I-League, the second tier of Indian football league system. Real Kashmir with i ...

, a sports magazine. Due to a communications blackout that started on 5 August 2019, these offers could not be fulfilled. In April 2020, the

Jammu and Kashmir Police The Jammu and Kashmir Police is the police force of Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. JKP was established in 1873 and has primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within Jammu and Kashmir. History The first ...

named Zahra in an

FIR Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

under the

Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is an Indian law aimed at the prevention of unlawful activities associations in India. Its main objective was to make powers available for dealing with activities directed against the integrity and sover ...

, which is normally used for targeting terrorists. The police said they had been informed that Zahra was uploading "anti-national posts" to Facebook with "criminal intention to induce the youth", whereas she had only uploaded her published photographs. The move was condemned by 450 activists and scholars as an instance of targeting of journalists.

Awards

In 2020, Zahra won the Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism award from the

. She was awarded with Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism 2020 for "telling

tories A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The T ...

of the women of Kashmir."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zahra, Masrat Living people Kashmiri people People from Srinagar Indian photojournalists 1993 births 21st-century Indian Muslims Kashmiri Muslims 21st-century Indian journalists Kashmiri journalists Women war correspondents Photojournalism Indian women photographers Women photojournalists Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism

Biography

Awards

See also

References