On 2nd June, 28-year-old Pulitzer Prize-winning Kashmiri photojournalist – Sanna Irshad Mattoo was stopped by immigration officials at New Delhi Airport from flying to Paris. They did not give her any reasons.
She was scheduled to attend the book launch event in the French city of Arles. Mattoo was also going to attend a photography exhibition as one of the 10 winners of Serendipity Arles Grant 2020.
"I was scheduled to travel from Delhi to Paris today for a book launch and photography exhibition as one of 10 award winners of the Serendipity Arles grant 2020. Despite procuring a French visa, I was stopped at the immigration desk at Delhi airport," Mattoo tweeted. She said she was not given any reason but was told by immigration officials that she would not be able to travel abroad.
Mattoo shared photos of her tickets and passport stamped with "Cancelled without prejudice" by the immigration officials on Twitter.
"I was very excited to join this event and at the airport when I reached the immigration counter, they told me that you cannot fly," she told BOOM. "It was shocking. I asked them for reasons and they said they did not know the exact reasons," she said.
Mattoo was directed to wait at the immigration office for two hours. "I was very anxious as I was running out of time," she said. Mattoo was later told that the instruction to stop her from leaving the country had come from Kashmir.
"It is a big opportunity for anyone to witness and be a part of the Arles festival. It is the oldest photography exhibition and people across the globe take part in it," she told BOOM.
Mattoo believes that it might be any "mistake from the authority's side" for stopping her to travel abroad because she has no police or any criminal case against her. "I am hopeful that they (authorities) will rectify it soon."
What does 'cancellation without prejudice' mean?
When the Immigration authorities stamp a boarding card, "cancelled without prejudice", it implies that the international travel of the person on that day has been stopped, but this need not necessarily affect any future travel.
Speaking to BOOM, Vrinda Grover – a senior Supreme Court advocate, and human rights activist explained that arbitrarily preventing a person from traveling abroad is a violation of their right under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution as recognised by the Supreme Court in its landmark judgment Maneka Gandhi v Union of India and Anr. (1978) 1 SCC 248.
She explained that the apex court held that the expression "personal liberty" which occurs in article 21 of the Constitution includes the right to travel abroad and that no person can be deprived of that right except according to procedure established by law.
"In the case of award winning photojournalist Sanna, since she has not been allowed to travel abroad to participate in a prestigious program, including the book launch and photography exhibition of her book, it also constitutes a violation of her right to freely practise her profession under Article 19(1)(g), and constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution," Grover told BOOM.
Who can be stopped from traveling abroad?
A person can be prevented from flying abroad if there is a judicial order directing him to deposit his passport or stay within the jurisdiction of the country; or a Look Out Circular (LOC) has been issued by a competent legal authority.
The LOC can only be issued in cases where an accused person is intentionally traveling abroad to evade arrest or avoid appearing before the court. However, courts have recognised this to be a severe step as it interferes with the enjoyment of a fundamental right of a person under Article 21 and therefore the authority has to demonstrate cogent grounds that can lead to a reasonable conclusion that the accused person will flee from justice.
Following no reasons given to Mattoo by the authorities for stopping her from traveling abroad, Grover believes that the step by the authorities appears to be an abuse of the process of law.
"Once again the actions of the law enforcement agencies reek of arbitrariness. It is directed at silencing voices that dissent, Sana's photos inform the world of the lived reality of Kashmir. The government is trying to control the narrative, rather than allow Kashmiris to project their own experiences. It is a gross abuse of power and a stark reminder of the ongoing clampdown on media particularly in Kashmir," she said.
The Print had reported, quoting an unidentified source in Delhi police, that Mattoo is on LOC (Look Out Circular), the summons that prevented her from flying out of the country. The LOC had been issued by J&K police in 2020.
BOOM contacted the Indian home ministry that oversees the immigration authority to know why Mattoo was barred from flying abroad. The officer asked to email the questions for the comments. The story will be updated once BOOM receives any response.
Mattoo was among the 2022 Pulitzer Prize winners in the Feature Photography category for the coverage of the COVID-19 crisis in India as part of a Reuters team. Before joining Reuters team, she worked as a freelance photojournalist in 2018 and has worked on areas like human rights and health.
'End barring journalists from traveling abroad'
Scores of journalists, activists, and media watchdogs criticized the government for barring Mattoo from traveling to Paris. They called it a "disturbing pattern".
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) tweeted "the travel bans are part of a systematic pattern of harassment against Kashmiri journalists, who have increasingly faced arbitrary arrest, frivolous legal cases, threats, physical attacks, and raids since August 2019."
It said the government of India "must immediately end its practice of barring Kashmiri journalists from foreign travel".
Also in the past few years, a number of journalists and activists have expressed that they were stopped from traveling abroad by the authorities.
In 2019, Kashmiri journalist and author Gowhar Geelani alleged he was stopped at New Delhi airport from traveling to Europe. In April, Aakar Patel, the former head of Amnesty International India was also stopped from flying to the United States. He said he was not allowed to fly to the US because of a criminal case the government has filed against Amnesty International India office in 2019. Patel said he was on the Central Bureau of Investigation's LOC.
Few weeks ago, prominent Indian journalist Rana Ayyub was also barred from boarding her flight to London where she had to address an event on the targeting of journalists in India.
However, she approached the court and was later allowed to fly.