The emotions vary when you discuss Kashmir at this time of the year. Often controversial, the stories related to the abrogation of Article 370 varies from grief to elation. However, talking of the brighter things, the Kashmiri journalistic fraternity, for sure have another achievement to flaunt about. From the gloomy streets of Kashmir, comes an exceptional multimedia journalist named Ahmer Khan.
Ahmer's recent work India Burning which airs on Showtime is nominated to Emmy awards. The series was nominated in the 'Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special' category. The winners will be revealed on 20 September.
On this twitter handle, Ahmer tweeted "I'm pleased and overwhelmed to announce that our film 'India Burning' - part of the #ViceonSHO series - has been nominated for an Emmy! Thank you for everyone who helped us in this journey and helped me reach this moment."
Along with Ahmer Sobel Yeung, Jackie Jesko, Siddharth Bokolia, David Talukdar, Zach Caldwell, and Sami Ullah were part of the team that produced the show.
This is not the first time Ahmer is making it to the headlines. Earlier he has been awarded the prestigious 24th Human Rights Press Awards (2020) in the short video category for a short-film shot during post-August 5, lockdown titled Defending Kashmir: Anchar's last stand against India's control, won under the 'Short Video' category, was published by The Guardian. In 2019, Ahmer was named the winner of the Agence France-Presse Kate Webb Prize for his coverage on the ground in Kashmir during the lockdown of the region. He has also been awarded the Lorenzo Natali Prize 2018 for his story 'A school under Metro bridge teaches Delhi children' in 2018.
Emmy Awards recognise excellence in the television industry. It is one of the four major American entertainment awards, the other three being Oscar (films), Grammy (Music) and Tony (theatre). Because of ongoing COVID 19 crisis, the mega award ceremony will be held in September. Earlier this year a small clip from Ahmer's series stormed the social media because of the provocative statements.
A couple of weeks back, three Kashmiri Photojournalist bagged the Pulitzer Prize for their excellent work on the field.
