Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday called Danish Siddiqui’s father to express condolences to family, friends.
Danish Siddiqui, the Chief Photographer for Reuters in India, was killed in cross-firing violence in Kandahar by the Taliban.
“This afternoon, President Ashraf Ghani called Professor Siddiqui, father of Reuters journalist Danish Siddiqui, and conveyed his condolences over the death of his son to his family, friends, and colleagues. The President termed his death as a great loss for the journalism fraternity,” said Aziz Amin, Special Secretary to President Ghani.
Last week, Ashraf Ghani had expressed grief over the death of Danish Siddiqui, who was killed covering the Taliban’s brutal takeover of the war-torn nation.
“I am deeply saddened by the shocking reports that Reuters Photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was killed while covering the Taliban atrocities in Kandahar,” he had said.
“While I extend my heartfelt condolences to Danish Sidiqqui’s family and also to our media family, I reiterate my government’s unwavering commitment to freedom of speech and protection of free media and journalists,” President Ghani had said.
India had raised the killing of the journalist at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla had said in New York last week, “We condemn the killing of Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui while he was on a reporting assignment in Kandahar in Afghanistan. I extend our sincerest condolences to his bereaved family.”
Danish Siddiqui covered war zones and crises from Iraq to Hong Kong to Nepal. He was killed on 16 July 2021, covering Afghan-Taliban clashes near the Pakistan border.
The world applauded his magnificent photography where he even used drones to capture the most unique scenes.
However, people in India did comment that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence was questionable as India had lost one of the finest photojournalists during the terrible tussle between the Taliban and Afghanistan and yet the Prime Minister of India offered no condolences for Danish’s family.