Capturing Kashmir conflict wins 3 photojournalists a Pulitzer

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A wounded woman is carried on a stretcher for treatment after she was injured in a bus accident, at a local hospital in Srinagar, June 27, 2019. A minibus carrying students to a picnic fell into a gorge along a Himalayan road in Kashmir, killing more than 10 and injuring several others. The image is part of the photo series that won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.

(AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

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A paramilitary soldier stands guard as Kashmiri Muslims offer Friday prayers on a street outside a local mosque during curfew like restrictions in Srinagar, August. 16, 2019. The image is part of the photo series that won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.

(AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

Photojournalist Dar recalls how he used to approach passengers at airports, requesting them to deliver photos in memory cards and flash drives to AP's New Delhi office. Some declined, worried about trouble with authorities, he says, adding some agreed.

Yasin, along with his colleagues Mukhtar Khan and Channi Anand, have won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in feature photography, for capturing the Kashmir conflict after the Narendra Modi government on August 5 last year abrogated special provision under Article 370 granted to the erstwhile state.

The August 5 order followed a lockdown with shutdown of Internet services and curfew but it did not dismay the three photographers, who managed to somehow bring to the fore a picture of Kashmir.

Here is a look at a few of the award-winning pictures.

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Kashmiri Muslim devotees offer prayer outside the shrine of Sufi saint Sheikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jeelani in Srinagar, December 9, 2019. Hundreds of devotees gathered at the shrine for the 11-day festival that marks the death anniversary of the Sufi saint. The image is part of the photo series that won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.

(AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

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An Border Security Force soldier keeps vigil near the India-Pakistan border at Garkhal in Akhnoor, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) west of Jammu, August. 13, 2019. The image is part of the photo series that won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.

(AP Photo/Channi Anand)

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Kashmiri men dismantle a portion of a house destroyed in a gunbattle in Tral village, south of Srinagar, March 4, 2019. The image is part of the photo series that won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.

(AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

There were scenes of joy at the home of the three photojournalists.

Anand said the award left him speechless. 'I was shocked and could not believe it,' he said, calling the prize-winning photos a continuation of the work he's been doing for 20 years with the AP.

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This photograph taken by Mukhtar Khan was among the 20 — 19 from Kashmir and one from Jammu, taken by three Associated Press photographers — which were chosen by the jury for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography. The picture above shows six-year-old Muneefa Nazir, a Kashmiri girl, whose right eye was hit by a marble ball shot allegedly by paramilitary soldiers on August 12. When this picture was taken on September 17, 2019, the girl was standing outside her home in Srinagar. This photograph was published by The Telegraph also on its front page on September 27, last year.

(AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

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Masked Kashmiris shout slogans during a protest after Friday prayers on the outskirts of Srinagar on October 4, 2019.

(Dar Yasin/AP)

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Security forces break motorbikes parked outside a college in Srinagar on May 14, 2019, as students protested against the alleged rape of a child.

(Dar Yasin/AP)

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Women shout slogans as policemen fire teargas and live ammunition in the air to stop a protest march in Srinagar on August 9, 2019.

(Dar Yasin/AP)

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Kashmiri children attend recitation classes of the holy Quran on the first day of Ramazan in Srinagar on May 7, 2019.

(Mukhtar Khan/AP)

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A Kashmiri boy tries to take out a bullet from the wall of a damaged house after a gun battle in Tral, south of Srinagar, on May 24, 2019.

(Dar Yasin/AP)

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A paramilitary soldier orders a Kashmiri to open his jacket before frisking him during curfew in Srinagar on August 8, 2019.

(Dar Yasin/AP)

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An elderly Kashmiri sits outside a closed market during a strike in Srinagar on February 17, 2019.

(Dar Yasin/AP)

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A Kashmiri walks on a snow-covered footbridge as it snows in the interiors of Dal Lake in Srinagar on December 13, 2019.

(Dar Yasin/AP)

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Villagers grieve near the body of an 11-year-old boy, Aatif Mir, in north of Srinagar, on March 22, 2019.

(Dar Yasin/AP)

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Kashmiri men shout slogans in Srinagar during a protest against New Delhi’s tightened grip on the region on August 23, 2019.

(Dar Yasin/AP)

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Security forces stand guard as Kashmiri Muslims pray in Srinagar on November 10, 2019.

(Mukhtar Khan/AP)

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A deserted street is seen through barbwire that was strung as a blockade during curfew in Srinagar on August 6, 2019.

(Dar Yasin/AP)

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Flames and smoke billow from a house where militants are suspected to have taken refuge in Pulwama on February 18, 2019.

(Dar Yasin/AP)

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Associated Press photographer Dar Yasin (second from right) kisses his daughter Muthara, as his mother Shamima Maqbool (left) and elder daughter Mubarrah celebrate in Srinagar followin g the Pulitzer Prize announcement.

(AP Photo/Rifat Yasin)