The volatile turf of Kashmir has produced many distinct women, all stalwarts in their field. There is Nadia Nighat, Kashmir’s first female football coach. And Sabbah Haji strives to give quality education through Haji Public School, located at Beswana – a village in Kashmir.
Then there is Masrat Zahra, a 26-year-old photojournalist, who recently became the recipient of the prestigious Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award.
In a conversation with The Morning Standard, Zahra said she was deeply overwhelmed when she found out about the award as she was going through a tough time being booked under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Zahra, who has been a photojournalist for over four years, chose this career after witnessing only male photojournalists covering any incident or occurrence on the streets in the Valley.
“I questioned myself if this job is only for men? I live in the Downtown area in Srinagar, a volatile place. Since childhood, I have seen many clashes and always found only male photojournalists coming and taking pictures. They were never accompanied by women.” Zahra informs that post the lockdown she has done a few projects in Kashmir; one was on the Internet ban in Kashmir, starting from 2019, which was a lockdown in a lockdown for Kashmiris who felt cut off from the rest of the world. Becoming a photojournalist was not easy for Zahra.
Her parents were initially against her taking up this challenging job as many journalists see tough times in Kashmir. They wanted her to become a doctor.
She couldn’t crack the CET test and studied journalism eventually.
She was mentored by acclaimed photojournalist Showkat Nanda, and is now a regular contributor to prestigious publications such as The Washington Post, The New Humanitarian, TRT World, Al Jazeera, The Caravan, The Sun, The News Arab and The World Weekly.
However, after the UAPA charge and the recent Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award, Zahra received worldwide support, and her parents now call her “daughter of the whole world”.