The body of Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who was killed in Afghanistan’s Kandahar, has been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) by the Taliban on Friday.
Noted Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was killed on Thursday night in a clash between the Afghan special forces and Taliban attackers. Tolo News, a leading news channel of Kabul has reported that Mr Siddiqui, working for Reuters news agency, was covering the clashes betweeen the two sides in Kandahar over the last few days and he died in Spin Boldak district, which has a contentious international border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has taken up the killing at the UN Security Council.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in his message of condolence, expressed solidarity with the media and said his government is committed to upholding freedom of expression.
“We have been informed that the body has been handed over by the Taliban to the ICRC,” a source in the Indian Embassy in Kabul said.
The Indian Embassy in Kabul has informed that it is in touch with the Afghan authorities to bring back the mortal remains of the Reuters photojournalist.
“We are actively facilitating the return of the body in coordination with Afghan authorities and the ICRC. We are in regular touch with family members of Danish Siddiqui,” the embassy source in Kabul said.
Earlier, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the government is in touch with the photojournalist’s family.
The Foreign Secretary told the UN Security Council that the humanitarian law principles found their existence in India long before modern humanitarian jurisprudence evolved. India had followed the path of ‘Dharma’ or ‘Righteous Conduct’ and provided refuge to persecuted people over centuries.
“The Dharma-based norms for armed conflict in ancient India were founded on the principle of humanity and humanitarian norms and had many rules protecting civilians during conflict,” said Shringla, adding: “High importance was attached to distinguishing combatants and non-combatants during armed conflicts. In a “Dharma-yuddha” or ‘Righteous War”, civilians were not attacked. On the contrary, they had to be protected.”
