The family of the Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who was brutally executed by the Taliban during the crossfire with Afghanistan, has issued a statement distancing itself and the slain Reuters journalist from a photobook, curated by Aasif Mujataba and Md Meharban, tiled ‘Hum Dekhenge: Protest and Pogrom’. The coffee table book released by the ex Jamia Millia Islamia University students document the anti-CAA and Delhi riots wherein Islamist mobs had run amok, creating havoc in the National Capital.
The statement, penned by Siddique’s father on February 1, 2022, categorically stated that no authorization was given to anyone to associate Danish’s name with the aforementioned book contrary to the purported claim of the photojournalists in media interviews.
Public statement by Siddiqui family pic.twitter.com/PyTBAc8NmG
— Danish Siddiqui (@dansiddiqui) February 1, 2022
“The book’s authors have dedicated this book to Late Danish Siddiqui, the Reuters photojournalist who died during an assignment in Afghanistan in 2021. Further, during media interviews, the book’s authors have also claimed that Danish was involved with the book and would give suggestions on making it better. On behalf of Danish’s family, we would like to categorically state that no authorization was given to anyone to associate Danish’s name with this project,” the family wrote, clearly distancing itself from the project undertaken by photojournalist and former Jamia student Md Meharban and Aasif Mujtaba.
The statement further specified that Danish Siddiqui had covered the Shaheen Bagh protest with objectivity and neutrality like any other professional assignment and portraying him falsely in this way raises serious questions about his professional ethics and credibility, as well as causing deep hurt to his already bereaved family.
Lambasting the photojournalists for falsely associating Siddiqui’s name with their project, the family hoped that the book authors would take note of this and withdraw their statements given to the Press. So far, the authors are yet to respond.
It may be noted that in their interview post the release of their photobook, Mohammad Meharban and Aasif Mujtaba, had called Danish Siddiqui their mentor and source of inspiration. News portals like Scroll and mainstream media outlets like The Indian Express and Outlook have written that the “curators have dedicated this book to Pulitzer Winner Reuters photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who was killed on an assignment in Afghanistan last year. Danish was also mentoring Md Meharban, the curator of this book, in the domain of photojournalism.”
Scroll quoted Md Meharban as saying doing an interview, “I worked alongside [photojournalist] Danish Siddiqui all through the course of events covered in this photo book. I used to update him on the progress of the book every now and then and he would give us suggestions on how to make it better. Unfortunately, we couldn’t show him the final product because he was killed in Afghanistan on assignment for Reuters news agency. Therefore, we decided that it was best to dedicate this book to him.
Similarly, it quoted the other curator of the book, Aasif Mujtaba, as saying that Danish taught them how to best convey emotions through photographs.
The photobook reportedly has 223 photographs from 28 photographers and artists, including the late Danish Siddiqui. The book contains several photos that the so-called liberals and their friendly media had declared iconic during the protests.
Delhi Riots 2020 where Islamist mobs had run amuck, creating havoc in the National Capital. However, the national and international media have resorted to blatant lies while painting these riots ‘Anti Muslim pogrom’. The truth was anything but that. These riots had been created by a relentless sleuth of anti-Hindu sentiments amongst the Islamists. They were further enabled by a narrative peddled by self-declared liberals, who fueled Hinduphobia in name of ‘saving constitution’. To make sure the truth was not sacrificed at the altar of propaganda and political correctness, OpIndia had brought to you several ground reports that you can read here.
