Delhi: On the evening of July 17, scores of students, journalists and activists gathered at gate number 17 of Jamia Millia Islamia to light candles in the memory of Pulitzer Prize winner Danish Siddiqui. On the night of July 15, Siddique was killed in Kandahar, Afghanistan while covering clashes between the Taliban and Afghan Special Forces.
Siddique, an alumni of A.J.K. Mass Communication Research Centre (MCRC), has been an inspiration for many budding photographers, reporters, editors and illustrators like me, who have looked up to him for his empathetic gaze towards his subjects while covering a story. In recent years, he has covered the anti-CAA protests, the farmer’s protests, the Delhi riots, the Rohingya refugee crisis and recently, the dilapidated state of India’s health infrastructure during the second wave of COVID-19.
As an artist and a Jamia student, I pay homage to the exemplary photojournalist with my illustrations.
Rest in power, Danish Siddique!
