Sagrika Kissu
Sagrika Kissu (born in 1992) is an Indian journalist belongs to a Kashmiri Pandit family, settled in Jammu after 1990's migration of Kashmiri Pandits. Currently, she is an author at NewsClick. Her name came into light after she helped stranded Kashmiri Muslims in Delhi after Pulwama attack.[3][2] She was also author at Hong Kong-based news media website Asia Times.[4] She is also known for covering 2018 Bihar riots as NewsClick Journalist.[5]
Sagrika Kissu | |
---|---|
Born | [1][2] Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India | 19 December 1992
Nationality | Indian |
Alma mater | Maharishi Dayanand University |
Occupation | Journalist |
Years active | 2017–present |
Personal life
Kissu was born in 1992[2] in Jammu. She belongs to a Kashmiri Pandit minority and her family migrated from Kashmir to Jammu in late 90s because of the insurgency in the region.[3]
Career
From March to November 2017 she wrote articles for The Financial Express.[6] She has written articles for NewsClick since January 2018,[7] and is reporting on Jammu and Kashmir since then.[8] She was also author at Hong Kong-based news media website Asia Times.[4]
Kissu faced criticism when she interviewed the fathers of hizb militants Burhan Wani and Saddam Padder, who had been killed in army encounters. The interview records more than 2 million views on video publishing platform YouTube.[9] Floods of messages, comments abusing Kissu on social media are still present.
In another event, when tensions between India and Pakistan emerged after the Pulwama Attack in 2019 and both countries was in war-like situation[10] but some people tried to create environment of dialogue between two countries. According to CNN, Kissu was one of the person who promoted #SayNoToWar trend on her twitter to end the war-like situation.[3] According to Kissu, she pushed the hashtag on Twitter in an attempt to help in breaking the cycle of violence and war before it's too late.[3] As she was grown up with the crisis in Kashmir after the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits.
Kissu covered 2018 Bihar riots as NewsClick Journalist.[5][11]
Voluntary work
After the 2019 Pulwama attack, there were many "incidents of Kashmiris being attacked across India, [so] Sagrika Kissu helped arrange lodging and transport [in Delhi] for 18 students who left the cities of Ambala, Dehradun and Jaipur."[12] She posted a status update on her Facebook page saying that if anybody needed accommodation they should contact her.[13] After first batch of Kashmiri students came from Dehradun, Kissu went to Jama Masjid Delhi to pickup them. This was the first batch of students whom she helped. The students were in fear, so Kissu spoke to them in Kashmiri language for their comfort.[13] After helping stranded Kashmiri Muslims in Delhi, she was appreciated by many people on social media but some people mostly from right-wing[13] trolled and abused Kissu.[12] A right-wing ABVP member asked, "If you have helped Kashmiri Pandits who are living in tents" and she replied him, "When I was staying in a tent, [after migration from Kashmir in the 1990s] nobody from your family came to help me".[13]
References
- "Sagrika Kissu Official Twitter". Retrieved 16 June 2020.
- Sharma, Betwa (12 March 2019). "This Pandit helped stranded Kashmiri muslims". Huffington Post. Huffington Post. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
- Mezzofiore, Gianluca (28 February 2019). "How people are trying to end the India-Pakistan crisis one tweet at a time". CNN. India. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
- "'Forgotten' Kashmiri Pandits resent a life of despair in refugee camps". Asia Times. 10 March 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
- Kissu, Sagrika (3 April 2018). "Bihar Riots: This Time Hindutva Hurts Hindus Too". NewsClick. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
- "Articles by Sagrika Kissu". The Financial Express (India). 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
- "Sagrika Kissu : Articles", NewsClick, 2018–20, retrieved 14 June 2020
- Som, Anusuya (9 August 2019). "In Delhi, dismay and despair". Patriot. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- Kissu, Sagrika (8 July 2018). "Interview of fathers of Hizb Militants Burhan Wani and Saddam Padder". NewsClick, on YouTube. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
- Yusuf, Moeed (May 2019). "The Pulwama Crisis: Flirting With War in a Nuclear Environment". Retrieved 9 June 2020.
- Khan, Nadeem; Tandon, Tandon; Banna, Hasnul; Anwar, Tarique; Kissu, Sagrika; Alam, Mahtab; Shakeb, Farrah (10 April 2018). "BJP, Bajrang Dal blamed for communal violence in Bihar". The Statesman (India). Bihar. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
- "Indian Journalist receives death threat for saving Kashmiri students". The Express Tribune. 13 March 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
- Bhatia, Shubham (28 February 2019). "Dire straits timely help". Patriot. New Delhi. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
External links
- Sagrika Kissu on Twitter