Srinagar
In this 13th Ramnath Goenka journalism awards, held in New Delhi on January 4, 2019, many journalists across India were honoured with the RNG awards.
Based on the Kashmir related reports, Zaffar Iqbal, a Kashmiri journalist working for NDTV India, won the award in the broadcast category in reporting from J&K.
Similarly, Daksh Panwar of the Indian Express was the winner of reporting from J&K and the northeast category in sports journalism. Mounita Sen of India Today wins the sports journalism award in the broadcast category. Nitin Sharma of Indian Express won the award in print category for reporting in J&K.
Annie Gowen, a correspondent on the National desk of The Washington Post, and former India bureau chief from 2013-2018, wins the award in foreign corresponding covering India in print category.
Before going to India, Gowen was a member of The Post’s social issues team covering wealth and inequality. In 2017, After her story; “To control crowds in Kashmir, police fired pellets. Now this 16-year-old will never see fully again”, was Published, the senior journalist was refused to permit to travel India by the Indian authorities.
Namrata Biji Ahuja of The Week and Rikynti Marwein of Highland Post won the award in reporting from J&K and the northeast print category.
It is pertinent to mention, The Express Group instituted the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards, In 2005, as part of the centenary year celebrations of its founder, Ramnath Goenka.
The awards aim to celebrate excellence in journalism, recognise courage and commitment and showcase the outstanding contributions of journalists from across the country.
Congratulating the senior journalist for his award, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti praised the journalist for winning the award in journalism second time.
“Congratulations @szaffariqbal for bagging the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism second time. Your in-depth investigative reports on Kashmir are remarkable. Your efforts of bringing facts to the limelight are really encouraging. Wishing you best!,” Mehbooba wrote on Twitter.
Wishing the journalist more success in future, National Conference vice president and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah wrote on his widely followed twitter handle: “Congratulations for your second Ramnath Goenka award. Here’s wishing you more success in the days & years ahead @szaffariqbal.”
