Leading Kashmir journalist shot dead

International Desk: A senior journalist of Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, who was associated  with the peace process in the insurgency-hit state, was shot dead on Thursday evening by unidentified gunmen just outside his office.

The state’s Director General of Police S P Vaid said three to four gunmen opened fire on 51-year-old Shujaat Bukhari, Editor of the English language newspaper Rising Kashmnir, as soon as he boarded his car outside his office at Press Enclave in bustling Lal Chawk locality of Srinagar, the summer capital of the state.

Shujaat Bukhari’s personal security officer was also killed in the attack while another security guard was critically injured.

The attackers, who had come on motorcycles, fled taking advantage of the rush in the market ahead of Eid, according to the correspondent.

Other than Rising Kashmir, Bukhari also edited Urdu daily Buland Kashmir, Urdu weekly Kashmir Parcham and Kashmiri language vernacular Sangarmaal. Before taking over as editor of Rising Kashmir, he was the Jammu and Kashmir bureau chief of The Hindu newspaper for 15 years.

Widely respected as the voice of peace in Kashmir, Shujaat Bukhari was also instrumental in organizing several meetings involving former diplomats and army officers of India and Pakistan seeking a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir problem.

Bukhari is survived by his wife Tahmeena, son Tamheed and daughter Duriya. His brother Basharat Bukhari, a broadcaster-turned-politician, is a senior leader of the state’s ruling People’s Democratic Party and Minister for Horticulture, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs in the government headed by chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.

Shujaat Bukhari was among those who welcomed the Indian government’s announcement of suspension of security forces’ operations against militants during the Ramadan, reports our New Delhi correspondent. The ceasefire announcement, he wrote, “came as a glimmer of hope for the common people who have been suffering due to the continuous grind of violence”.

In June 2006, Bukhari was abducted from Srinagar by unidentified gunmen but managed to escape. Following the incident, he was provided security by the government.

This is the first killing of a journalist in the Valley in the last 15 years after Parvaz Mohammad Sultan was shot dead by gunmen in 2003. A year later, on April 20, 2004, journalist-turned-rights activist Asiya Jeelani was killed in a landmine explosion in Kupwara on the eve of the 2004 parliamentary polls.

The killing Bukhari drew strong condemnation from top political leaders of the country and media bodies with many of them terming the incident an act of cowardice and Information and Broadcasting Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore describing it as a “brutal attack on press freedom” and “an attempt to silence the saner voices of Kashmir.”

Mehbooba Mufti tweeted that the “scourge of terror has reared its ugly head on the eve of Eid” and condemn “this act of mindless violence.”

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said “even in the last tweet he (Shujaat) put out he was defending himself, his colleagues & his profession. He died in the line of duty doing what he did best & loved doing — journalism.”

Congress President Rahul Gandhi said “I’m anguished to hear about the killing of Shujaat Bukhari, editor of @RisingKashmir. He was a brave heart who fought fearlessly for justice and peace in Jammu & Kashmir. My condolences to his family. He will be missed.”

Senior BJP leader Ram Madhav said the killing of the journalist was “reprehensible” and a “condemnable cowardly act” of the “terrorists” and CPI-M tweeted, “ShujaatBukhari was a highly respected voice of reason in Kashmir. His murder is a grim reminder about the difficult circumstances in which journalists work when they take an independent position & refuse to toe the line of any lobby or group.”

The Editors Guild of India tweeted that it “unequivocally condemns the assassination” and termed it a “grave attack on press freedom and democratic voices”

Source: Agencies


risingbd/June 15, 2018/Mukul