Masrat Zahra’s photo from encounter site went viral on social media, she has been freelancing for international media houses for the past two years.
New Delhi: A woman photojournalist in the restive Kashmir Valley has been labelled as a “mukhbir” or police informer and hurled abuses at after a picture of her from an encounter site — suspected to be doctored — went viral on social media.
In the picture, Masrat Zahra, a young freelance photojournalist, is seen surrounded by security forces during a recent encounter in south Kashmir’s Kachdora where she had suffered injuries as well.
The picture was posted by an unknown person on Facebook, drawing abusive comments from many people in the Valley.
The photograph was originally taken by her friend.
For the past two years, Zahra has been freelancing for organisations such as Getty Images, The Sun, The Washington Post and Al-Arabiya, UK.
“On 1 April when 20 people died, I was at an encounter site. My colleague took the picture and I had just shared it on Facebook,” Zahra, who is pursuing a master’s course in mass communication, told ThePrint.
“My friend called me to say that my picture was being circulated in a rather shameful way (in social media). My parents have never supported my work but I have been going against the tide, out of my passion,” she added.
Zahra claims despite her shoulder injuries, she went on shooting pictures of funerals and protests after covering the encounter.
“I uploaded my picture from an encounter site and within no time people circulated it with a caption ‘mukhbir’ (informer),” she said.
“This is really shocking… it has been one and a half months, still I am not recovering… It is shameful and depressing,” Zahra said in her Facebook post.
Condemning the issue, senior editor of local daily Rising Kashmir, Syed Shujaat Bukhari said such “attributions and labelling” come from unscrupulous elements.
“It is disgusting to see how people are misusing the social media for maligning and discrediting…a young and promising woman journalist,” Bukhari said.
However, the photojournalists’ association in the Valley has not extended its support to Zahra, saying that she is not a member of the group.
There is no separate body for women journalists in the Valley given their number is few and far between.
While Kashmir is considered one of the most dangerous places for media persons, women journalists are seen as more vulnerable to security threats.
In August 2016, Sumaiya Yousuf, a reporter with Rising Kashmir, was allegedly thrashed by police and CRPF on her way home from the office in Srinagar.
Later, then director general of police K. Rajendra Kumar apologised to the reporter over the phone for the behaviour of his men.