Hundreds in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla joined the funeral procession of Rising Kashmir editor Shujaat Bukhari who was shot dead by suspected militants on Thursday evening, reported NDTV. Journalists, politicians and friends visited Bukhari’s home on Friday morning.
Among those who took part in the last rites of the journalist and visited his ancestral home to condole with the family were Opposition leader Omar Abdullah and ministers from the Peoples Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, reported the Hindustan Times. Mourners followed the cortege even as it rained in Baramulla.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police late on Thursday released the CCTV footage of three bike-borne men suspected to have killed Bukhari outside Srinagar’s press enclave. Two personal safety officers guarding him were also killed in the attack.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Friday described the killing of Bukhari as highly barbaric, deplorable and condemnable, according to GNS Kashmir. “His killing today has only established that violence cannot stand the scrutiny of logic and rationality,” she said, adding that Bukhari’s contribution to the media has become a part of the journalistic history of the state.
Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah condoled the deaths of Bukhari and his security guards. “Yesterday I couldn’t put names to them but today I salute Const Hameed & Const Mumtaz of @JmuKmrPolice,” he tweeted. “Killed in the line of duty while posted as security officers to Shujaat Bhukari.”
Union Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the attack proved that coward terrorists are the enemies of Islam. “The killing of renowned journalist Shujaat Bukhari Sahab & brave soldier Aurangzeb in the Holy month of Ramadan has once again proved that coward terrorists are the enemy of not only humanity but also the “Islam””, he tweeted.
The United States ambassador to India Kenneth Juster condemned the attack. “We offer our sincere condolences to their family, friends, and colleagues,” he tweeted.
Lashkar-e-Taiba too condemned the killing of Bukhari and blamed Indian agencies’ “enmity” towards every individual who is “loyal to the freedom movement”, according to GNS Kashmir.
The militant organisation’s spokesperson Abdullah Ghazanwi, in a statement quoting LeT chief Mahmood Shah, said the killing was a “conspiracy hatched to suppress the voice of indigenous freedom struggle”. “Indian agencies have enmity towards every individual who is loyal to the freedom movement,” he said. “The world must pay attention to India’s vicious and ill-fated conspiracies.”
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