Scroll’s Vaishnavi Rathore wins Danish Siddiqui Journalism Award 2025

Scroll’s Vaishnavi Rathore on Sunday won the 2025 Danish Siddiqui Journalism Award in the “Print/Digital” category for her reportage on the Great Nicobar Island Development Project.

Rathore, the first journalist to report from the ground about the contentious project’s environmental and social impacts, was awarded for the “excellence, depth, and relevance” of her work. Scroll readers crowdfunded the reporting project.

The Danish Siddiqui Journalism Award honours “journalists who embody integrity, courage, empathy, and truth”. It celebrates “those who push boundaries and tackle challenges to deliver impactful reporting that informs, educates, and inspires change”.

“By recognizing these storytellers, we uphold Danish Siddiqui’s legacy of fearless journalism, inspiring and guiding future generations with his commitment to excellence,” the award website states.

Siddiqui was a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist and the chief of Reuters Pictures multimedia team in India. He covered many important events in Asia, West Asia and Europe, including the Rohingya refugee crisis – for which he received the Pulitzer along with two colleagues – the Hong Kong protests and the living conditions of asylum seekers in Switzerland.

Siddiqui was killed while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters near a border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan in July 2021. He was covering the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan for Reuters.

Also read: On the Great Nicobar…