Danish Siddiqui, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist who was slain in Afghanistan, will be buried at the Jamia graveyard, according to the Jamia Millia Islamia. The graveyard is typically designated for Jamia workers, their families, and small children, but the vice-chancellor of the university has stated that an exception will be made for Siddiqui.
Siddiqui (39), a Reuters news agency employee, was a graduate of the university.
“The VC accepted the request by Siddiqui’s family to bury his body at the Jamia graveyard which is otherwise used exclusively for bodies of university employees, their spouses, and minor child,” PRO Ahmed Azeem said.
Siddiqui’s family has a long history with Jamia; his father, Mohammad Akhtar Siddiqui, was a former professor at the Faculty of Education at Jamia and still lives in Jamia Nagar. Siddiqui received his education at Jamia, as well as his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics and mass communication, from the institution.
VC Najma Akhtar paid a visit to the family on Saturday and expressed her sympathies. She also stated that the university will have a condolence gathering on Tuesday and that an exhibition of Siddiqui’s art would be held on campus “in due course” to provide “inspiration” to students.
Siddiqui was murdered in the Spin Boldak area of Kandahar province, near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan, on Friday while documenting confrontations between Afghan security forces and the Taliban.
According to Reuters, he was embedded as a journalist with the Afghan Special Forces in Kandahar earlier this week and “had been reporting on battles between Afghan commandos and Taliban insurgents.”
