‘A journalist with spunk, courage’: Delhi newspapers remember #ShujaatBukhari

“Top Kashmir editor shot dead in Srinagar attack“, “Senior Kashmir editor is shot dead”, “Gunmen kill senior editor Shujaat Bukhari” and “Kashmiri editor gunned down, Army jawan abducted & killed“, were the headlines across Delhi editions of leading English dailies today.

The killing of senior journalist and Rising Kashmir editor-in-chief Shujaat Bukhari has stunned the media fraternity. The 51-year-old was shot dead by gunmen outside his office in Press Colony, Srinagar, today. The Kashmir Police, last night, released pictures of suspects allegedly involved in Bukhari’s killing. They have termed it a “terror attack”.

Reporting on Bukhari’s death, prominent papers in Delhi have carried reports on their front pages.

Carrying a report with the headline, “Senior Kashmir editor is shot dead“, The Indian Express stated: “The killings, on the eve of Eid, left Srinagar stunned and there was all-round condemnation.” After news of Bukhari’s killing broke out, journalists, colleagues, peers, among others, took Twitter to express their condolences.

“Bukhari was among those who had welcomed the Centre’s announcement of the suspension of security operations during Ramzan — the ceasefire announcement,” The Indian Express wrote. Quoting his response to the ceasefire, the paper wrote: “[the ceasefire] came as a glimmer of hope for the common people who have been suffering due to the continuous grind of violence.” Bukhari had organised several conferences for peace in the Kashmir Valley.

The India Express, on page 7 spoke of the all-around condemnation of the editor’s killing. The report was titled: “Delhi to Srinagar, all condemn editor’s killing.” An obit in the paper, authored by Seema Chisti, described Bukhari as: “A journalist with spunk, courage and a keen sense of his calling.” The paper also carried an editorial, “Silencing a voice”. The paper called his killing “an attack on free speech, on democracy and on the idea that the people of Kashmir deserve peace and a political solution to a complex and congealed crisis.”

Last year as part of The Media Rumble, Bukhari spoke of the distance between New Delhi and Kashmir. Today, along with Kashmiri dailies, the papers in Delhi paid their respects to Bukhari.

The Times of India report called the killing of Bukhari “a severe blow to the Centre’s suspension of security operations in the Valley during the holy month of Ramzan.” The paper also had a full-page coverage on page 13, including reports on condemnation of Bukhari’s killing.

The Hindu reported on Bukhari’s killing in the heart of Srinagar, ahead of Id-ul-Fitr.

N Ram, Chairman of The Hindu Publishing Group tweeted and remembered Bukhari as an “insightful Kashmir correspondent”. Bukhari was with the group for over a decade.

The Hindustan Times report headlined: “Top Kashmir editor shot dead in Srinagar attack“, described Bukhari as “a journalist…known in the state and the rest of the country as an important Kashmiri voice.” Among several reports that made for a full-page reportage on Kashmir, one article was titled: “Adept at conflict reporting, Bukhari was loved by juniors.” The report chronicled Bukhari’s days from college to him establishing “his own newspaper, Rising Kashmir, from Srinagar, which quickly grew to become one of the most influential voices in the state.”

The front page of The Telegraph‘s Calcutta edition carried reports on Bukhari’s killing as well as a report on a United Nations report that has accused India of using excessive force in Kashmir. The paper carried another article on page 6, “Shock, fear in Press Colony” that referred to Bukhari as “one of a bright new crop of latter generation Valley journalists”. The paper further described Bukhari as “an affable and keen professional” and “a peripatetic traveller”. It added: “His eagerness to inform and engage, which he thought his essential part as a Kashmiri journalist, was apparent from the constant activity on his social media handles. Those have now been brutally silenced.”

In a statement issued by Committee to Protect Journalists, the group stated: “India’s persistent culture of impunity in the murders of journalists leaves the country’s press vulnerable to threats and attacks.” CPJ also expressed concern “whether the Indian authorities will investigate this murder in a timely and effective manner”, given the number of unsolved journalist murders and the political turmoil in Kashmir. Between 1992 and 2018, 47 Indian journalists have been killed in connection with their work, N Ram tweeted, quoting CPJ’s data.

The condolence meeting for Shujaat Bukhari would be tentatively around 4-4.30 pm, on Monday, June 18, at the Press Club of India.