dsja jury member
Rajdeep Sardesai
India Today

Impactful journalism, journalism of courage is the need of the hour. Journalism of empathy, where you are able to tell the stories of those who won't be in the arc lights. The poor, the marginalized, the disempowered, those who suffer injustice in this country. Their stories need to be told. And which is why I am honored to be part of a jury to decide on the awards that are being instituted in the name of Danish Siddiqui, a photojournalist who in the truest sense of the words represented the best values of journalism. Danish, with his ground reporting, with his photography, stood for courage. He stood for truth. He stood for empathy. And those are the values that we want to celebrate through this Danish Siddiqui Journalism Award. It's Danish's legacy as a photojournalist who tragically passed away while in the line of duty that we want to honor and recognize. So I would encourage all the young journalists out there, young and old, to celebrate Danish Siddiqui's legacy. By doing the kind of meaningful, impactful work that we would like to honor and recognize. Thank you very much.