Daily Times

Sir: Recently, Shujaat Bukhari, a leading journalist and editor of the English-language daily newspaper ‘Rising Kashmir’, was shot dead by three unidentified gunmen on a motorbike. This incident took place right outside his office in Srinagar, in Indian Held Kashmir and is yet another example of the deplorable conditions that the people of this region have to live through, especially those working in the press.

This was a grave assault on the freedom of the Kashmiri people, as well as the press that gives them a voice and brings to light the countless injustices they face every day. It is also another attempt by the people in power to silence those who refuse to cower and hide in the face of adversity and instead choose to rise up to fight it, with no regard for their own safety. Shujaat Bukhari was just such a man.

The men responsible for this heinous crime are yet to be caught and they most probably never will. The government of Jammu and Kashmir has once again failed miserably in providing adequate protection to high profile people from the region, especially those belonging to the media.

Pakistan for their part strongly condemned the targeted killing of this renowned and courageous Kashmiri journalist, and has urged the Indian authorities to investigate this matter as quick as possible, so that the perpetrators of this reprehensible act are finally brought to justice. That is the least they can do for the family and loved ones of Shujaat Bukhari, and his countless admirers around the world.

MANNAN SAMAD

Makran

Published in Daily Times, June 21^st 2018.