Danish Siddiqui's killing in Afghanistan triggers condemnation from int'l media watchdogs, Amnesty
London/New York: Prominent global media watchdogs and a rights group have condemned the death of Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui in Afghanistan, demanding a thorough probe into his killing and urging the authorities to do more to protect members of the press.
Siddiqui, 38, was killed while covering clashes between Afghan troops and the Taliban in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar city. He was injured on Thursday night while accompanying Afghan soldiers who were attacked and succumbed to his injuries on Friday.
Siddiqui won the Pulitzer Prize in 2018 as part of the Reuters team for their coverage of the Rohingya crisis. He had extensively covered the Afghanistan conflict, the Hong Kong protests and other major events in Asia, Middle East, and Europe.
Reacting to the Indian journalist's death, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the New York-based independent, non-profit organisation, urged the Afghan authorities to conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the killing of Siddiqui and do everything in their power to protect members of the press.
The death today of Reuters photojournalist Danish Siddiqui is a tragic notice that even as the US and its partners withdraw forces, journalists will continue to work in Afghanistan, documenting whatever comes next at great risk to their lives, said Steven Butler, CPJ's Asia programme coordinator, in Washington, D.C.
Combatants need to take responsibility for safeguarding journalists, as dozens of journalists have been killed in this conflict, with little or no accountability, Butler said.
The International Press Institute, a global network of media professionals, on Friday mourned the death of Siddiqui and termed it an immense loss for journalism.
IPI is incredibly saddened to learn of the death of Danish Siddiqui, one of the most accomplished photojournalists of our age. Journalism has suffered an immense loss. We send our solidarity to his family and colleagues, the Vienna-based IPI said in a tweet.
"As a member of the Reuters team, he brilliantly chronicled some of the biggest international news events in recent years, with his images reaching millions around the globe and bringing him well-deserved recognition, IPI Deputy Director Scott Griffen said in a statement.
Danish's death is a reminder of the enormous risks that journalists face in conflict zones as they work to bring the news to the world. Afghanistan, in particular, remains an especially dangerous environment for the press, a situation we fear will escalate with the ongoing withdrawal of foreign forces from the country, Griffen said.
Siddiqui is the fifth journalist to be killed in Afghanistan this year. Three women media workers, who worked for the Enkass radio network, were killed on March 2 in Nangahar province, and on January 1, a journalist was shot dead in Ghor province, the IPI said in a report.
Journalists in Afghanistan are extremely concerned over their safety following the rapid withdrawal of US and NATO troops.
The safety of female journalists in Afghanistan is especially tenuous. According to the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee, 20 per cent of Afghan women journalists have quit or lost their jobs in the past few months because of the attacks and killings, it said.
Amnesty International said the news of Siddiqui's killing was deeply shocking as it shared its condolences with his family, friends and colleagues.
The news of the killing of Danish Siddiqui is deeply shocking. We share our condolences with his family, friends and colleagues. Danish Siddiqui was a brave photojournalist, known for his searing images that carefully chronicled some of the worst humanitarian crises around the world, said Samira Hamidi, Amnesty International's South Asia regional campaigner.
To preserve the fundamental right to freedom of expression and ensure public access to reliable information, reporters engaged in professional missions in areas of armed conflict must be provided with better protection measures by the authorities, Hamidi said in a statement.
According to a report by Reporters without Borders (RSF), a total of 937 journalists have been killed over the past decade, with 50 journalists losing their lives in 2020, most of them deliberately targeted.
The report compiled by the Paris-based media watchdog said it had tallied 50 cases of journalists killed in connection with their work in 2020 (from January 1 to December 15), adding that this figure is very similar to 2019 (when 53 journalists were killed), although fewer journalists worked in the field last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), 65 journalists and human rights defenders have lost their lives since 2018.
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ED raids J'khand minister's staff; recovers Rs 25-cr cash, official documents
Ranchi, May 6: The Enforcement Directorate on Monday claimed to have recovered an estimated Rs 25 crore "unaccounted" cash and several official documents during searches on the premises of a domestic help of a secretary of Jharkhand minister Alamgir Alam, official sources said.
A cache of more than Rs 3 crore cash was separately seized by the central agency from some other premises being searched in the state as part of a money laundering investigation linked to the state rural development department, the sources said.
The ED has been probing this case since last year and has arrested a former chief engineer of the state rural development department.
Videos and photos shared by the sources showed officials of the agency emptying wads of currency notes from large bags in a 2BHK flat located at Gadikhana Chowk here.
As many as eight note-counting machines were deployed by the agency apart from bank staff to ascertain the exact amount of currency that was majorly in the Rs 500 denomination. Personnel of central paramilitary forces stood guard at the building where the flat is located.
It is claimed Jahangir Alam, a domestic help of Congress leader and Jharkhand Rural Development Minister Alamgir Alam's personal secretary Sanjiv Lal, is residing at this location along with Lal, the sources said.
The keys to the premises where the cash was found were seized from Lal's flat, they said.
An official document written by the ED to the state chief secretary and recommendatory transfer and posting letters were also found during the searches at the premises, the source said.
Minister Alamgir Alam told PTI that he had "no official information regarding this so far".
"I have been watching TV and it says the premises are linked to the official PS (private secretary) provided to me by the government," he added.
The 70-year-old minister represents the Pakur seat in the Jharkhand assembly.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been alleging that he is being targeted by the opposition for his action against corruption, referred to the ED seizures in his poll rallies in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh on Monday.
He said "mounds of cash" were seized by the ED in Jharkhand and wondered why such persons were "close to the Congress' first family".
"They have made the worker's house a godown of corruption. This is not the first time as a bigger seizure was made from an MP (in Jharkhand) earlier also and it was such a big cache that even machines were tired of counting," he said at Vemagiri.
"Why is it that those, from whom mounds of cash are recovered, are close to the Congress' first family? Was the seized cash meant for supply somewhere, is it that Congress' first family has created warehouses of black money? The country wants to know from Congress shehzada," he said in an apparent jibe at Rahul Gandhi.
Modi, during the rally in Odisha, said he was being criticised for "stopping corruption and loot".
The Congress and other opposition parties have accused the Modi government of misusing central agencies like the ED to target their leaders.
ED sources said they estimate that the cash could be more than Rs 25 crore but a final figure could only be ascertained after counting.
Two currency counting machines had to be replaced as they stopped working due to overheating, they said.
Visuals show large trunks being taken inside the location so that the cash can be taken for depositing in a bank branch.
The agency also seized from the flat a May 2023 official communication written by the Ranchi unit of the ED to the Jharkhand chief secretary seeking an independent probe and registration of an FIR into the "revelations" of alleged bribes taken from contractors.
These purported disclosures were made by former chief engineer of the rural works department Veerendra Kumar Ram, who was arrested by the ED last year in this case.
Some recommendation letters written by MLAs and other high-profile people to Alam for favourable transfer and posting of state government officials have also been recovered from the said premises, the sources said.
A total of six premises are being searched as part of the operation, and from two premises the agency has recovered Rs 2.93 crore and Rs 10 lakh each, the sources said. Some jewellery has also been seized, they said.
The searches are linked to a money laundering case against the former chief engineer of the rural works department, Veerendra Kumar Ram, who was arrested by the ED last year.
"Veerendra Kumar Ram, posted as chief engineer in the Rural Works Department in Ranchi, had generated proceeds of crime in the name of commission from contractors in lieu of allotment of tenders to them," the agency had alleged in a statement issued last year in April after it attached assets worth Rs 39 crore of the officer.
"The proceeds of crime thus generated were used by Veerendra Kumar Ram and his family members to live a very lavish lifestyle," it said.
The money laundering case against Ram stems from a complaint of the Jharkhand anti-corruption bureau (ACB).
