Pulitzer Winner Photo Journalist Danish Siddiqui Dies on Duty in Kandahar

“While I enjoy covering news stories – from business to politics to sports – what I enjoy most is capturing the human face of a breaking story.”

Reads the bio of Danish Siddiqui on his Reuters page and perhaps captures his spirit the best.

Pulitzer Prize winner, Reuters Chief Photographer Danish Siddiqui has been reportedly killed in clashes in Kandahar while reporting on the frontline of the Afghan conflict late Thursday night.

Afghanistan's Ambassador to India Farid Mamundzay took to Twitter to say, “Deeply disturbed by the sad news of the killing of a friend, Danish Seddiqi in Kandahar last night. The Indian Journalist & winner of the Pulitzer Prize was embedded with Afghan security forces. I met him 2 weeks ago before his departure to Kabul. Condolences to his family & Reuters.”
 

Deeply disturbed by the sad news of the killing of a friend, Danish Seddiqi in Kandahar last night. The Indian Journalist & winner of Pulitzer Prize was embedded with Afghan security forces. I met him 2 weeks ago before his departure to Kabul. Condolences to his family & Reuters. pic.twitter.com/sGlsKHHein

— Farid Mamundzay फरीद मामुन्दजई فرید ماموندزی (@FMamundzay) July 16, 2021

 

Danish was covering the Afghanistan conflict and had tweeted on July 13th about how he tagged along with the Afghan Special Forces. In a series of tweets, Siddiqui talks about the way Afghan forces have been carrying out relief and combat rescue missions.

Afghan Special Forces, the elite fighters are on various frontlines across the country. I tagged along with these young men for some missions. Here is what happened in Kandahar today while they were on a rescue mission after spending the whole night on a combat mission.

 

THREAD.
Afghan Special Forces, the elite fighters are on various frontlines across the country. I tagged along with these young men for some missions. Here is what happened in Kandahar today while they were on a rescue mission after spending the whole night on a combat mission. pic.twitter.com/HMTbOOtDqN

— Danish Siddiqui (@dansiddiqui) July 13, 2021

 

An alumnus of Jamia Millia Islamia, Danish had been reporting on human conflict from the Afghanistan War, Rohingya crisis, to the Delhi riots and the second wave of Coronavirus in India.

In 2018, he and Adnan Abidi won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for their excellent coverage of the Rohingya refugee crisis.

His colleagues and friends have expressed their sorrow on his untimely death.

Rahul Bhatia, who writes for the New Yorker now and had worked with him in Reuters before, tweeted, “Danish was a lovely man. When he returned from assignments to the bureau, reporters greeted him like a rock star, which he really was. He was just different. News wasn't just news for him. He saw the people behind it, and wanted to make you feel.”

In one incident, he explained how he had wanted to cover the grief of the Muslim community in India.

He wrote, “This one time he wanted to travel around India to shoot portraits of grieving Muslims, and when you looked closely at the pixels, you'd see each face was made of a thousand other grieving faces. He really cared.”

 

This one time he wanted to travel around India to shoot portraits of grieving Muslims, and when you looked closely at the pixels, you'd see each face was made of a thousand other grieving faces. He really cared.

— Rahul Bhatia (@rahulabhatia) July 16, 2021

 

Before joining Reuters, Danish worked at the India Today Group for two years till 2010.

Akash Banerjee (@TheDeshBhakt), an ex-colleague tweeted, “Danish was a colleague at @IndiaToday many yrs ago - then he decided to ditch the noise of TV News & charted a stunning career for himself in the world of photojournalism that eventually landed him a @PulitzerPrizes. Riots, covid, wars: Danish was always there to show the truth”

 

Danish was a colleague at @IndiaToday many yrs ago - then he decided to ditch the noise of TV News & charted a stunning career for himself in the world of photojournalism that eventually landed him a @PulitzerPrizes
Riots, covid, wars: Danish was always there to show the truth
https://t.co/14TdnMTGj0

— The DeshBhakt (@TheDeshBhakt) July 16, 2021

 

The Citizen multi-media reporter, Danish Pandit remembers meeting Siddiqui while covering the Covid-19 second wave in Delhi. At the Ghazipur crematorium, both he and Siddiqui were covering the deaths in Delhi.

“During the day, it was Ramadan and both of us were fasting. He asked my name and where I'm from. Since he's also a Jamia Alumnus. Told me to keep my work going. No matter what. He was focused on his work. Didn't use to talk to other journalists while reporting,” Danish Pandit said.

Another budding journalist, Prabhat Kumar tweeted, “When I started photography, I was literally copying his working style. This is a personal loss. Danish Sir!”

Other journalists have come out to express the danger in the field of photojournalism.

Lakshmi Chaudhry, the founder of Splainer Media, tweeted, “Photojournalists take far greater risks than any other kind of reporter. Remember that the next time you see a powerful image of something terrible happening in your world.”

Responding to a tweet back in April 2021, Danish Siddiqui had tweeted, “I don't think there is anything HEROIC about it. As journalists, this is what we signed up for. It's our DUTY to document what is happening around us.”

His legacy will be remembered in these words. You can have a look at his work here.

"We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region," Reuters President Michael Friedenberg and Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni said in a statement.

"Danish was an outstanding journalist, a devoted husband and father, and a much-loved colleague. Our thoughts are with his family at this terrible time," he said.

 

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