Kashmiri photojournalist wins 2020 Peter Mackler Award

Kashmiri photojournalist wins the 2020 Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism.

Masrat Zahra, a freelance photojournalist from Indian occupied Kashmir, was named the winner for the award for her work covering events in occupied Kashmir with a specific focus on women in the region.

Catherine Antoine, president of the Global Media Forum Training Group and founder of the Peter Mackler Award, said: “Masrat Zahra exhibits the very qualities that my late husband, Peter Mackler, fostered in the new generation of reporters whose path he crossed.”

“Masrat’s complete dedication to reporting the story, no matter the risks, along with her mental fearlessness and creative approach to use any medium at her disposal to bear witness to the world made our choice easy,” she added.

Masrat Zahra, in a zoom interview with the Peter Mackler Award team from her home in Srinagar, said: “It’s our job to work and show the truth and [we] have to take risks to do it.”

She further added that she is privileged to tell the stories Kashmiri women caught up in a conflict zone that have been ignored.