Malick Asghar Hashmi / New Delhi

The body of the Reuters photojournalist Danish Siddiqui who was killed in Taliban fire in Kandahar on Thursday is expected to reach Delhi Sunday evening.

This is disclosed by his father, Prof. Akhtar Siddiqui, to Awaz-the voice in Delhi.

He said that repatriation of the body from Afghanistan requires a lot of procedures and hence the delay.

Danish was killed by Taliban forces in Kandahar as he was moving with the Afghan forces in the city of Kandahar, a part of which is in the occupation of the Taliban. His body had to be retrieved from the Taliban-controlled area and it was eventually handed over to the International Red Cross by the Taliban Friday night.

Prof Rizvi said the government is helping the family deal with formalities.

Danish Siddiqui was killed two days ago in a clash between Afghan forces and Taliban fighters near Kandahar in Afghanistan. He was on an assignment for Reuters to cover the war in Afghanistan and was embedded with the government forces.

Just three days before his death he had released the clip showing how dangerous it is to work in Afghanistan during the war.

Information minister Anurag Thakur has expressed his grief at the death of Danish. He also posted a picture taken by the fallen photojournalist recently on Twitter:

Danish Siddiqui leaves behind an extraordinary body of work. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Photography and was embedded with the Afghan Forces in Kandahar. Sharing one of his pictures below. Sincere condolences. RIP https://t.co/xGhjJbsoCQ pic.twitter.com/9V7czR5DtB

— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) July 16, 2021

Danish's father said he had spoken to his son on the phone just two days before his death. He (Danish) was very happy about his new assignment. He also enquired about other members of the family during their conversation.

Prof. Akhtar Siddiqui has been the Dean of the Faculty of Education of Jamia Milia Islamia University. He was also the director of the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).

Danish was also an alumnus of the University. The Vice-Chancellor of Jamia has also expressed deep grief over his death. He said in his condolence message,

This is a big loss for journalism and the Jamia fraternity.

MCRC honoured Danish with the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2018. Professor and Acting Director Shohini Ghosh says, “This is one of the saddest days in the life of MCRC. Danish was one of the brightest stars in our Hall of Fame.

Danish was part of the Reuters team that was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2018. The MCRC students reported that their last interaction with Danish was on April 26, 2021, when Sohail Akbar invited him to speak to the students of Convergent Journalism. Sohail Akbar recalls, “Danish was very busy at that time due to the second wave of Covid-19.”