Last week, Shujaat Bukhari, a prominent journalist, who spent most of his life in a major conflict zone advocating for peace through his pen, was shot dead in Srinagar when he was leaving his office in Press Colony. The man who always believed that indigenous movements could not be suppressed through state brutality and who never gave up on his quest for peace in war-torn Kashmir was killed by unidentified gunmen a day before Eid along with his two guards. People from all walks of life in both parts of the divided state and the community of journalists in Pakistan, India and across the world was shocked to hear that he was no more. A voice for peace and a great advocate for fundamental rights of Kashmiris silenced forever.
My first email interaction with him took place on July 12, 2015 when I wrote an obituary on veteran Kashmir leader, former president and prime minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan for Rising Kashmir. Shujaat told me a number of times that the piece had received an enormous response from his readers. He kept encouraging me to write for Rising Kashmir regularly. Although I did not write much, I contributed a few articles and we were in regular contact. I remember his last visit to Pakistan and Azad Kashmir back in 2015 when he texted me and told me that he was leaving for Pakistan and would visit Muzaffarabad with some other journalists and wanted to see me there.
I never ever thought that a day would come when I would write his obituary.
Bukhari was a fine human being with qualities of head and heart who worked tirelessly for building peace and for projecting the cause of Kashmiris for their freedom and their right to self-determination. He was a journalist par excellence who was highly respected in the world for his professionalism and outstanding credentials.
Shujaat was one of the few journalists from the Indian side of Kashmir who was allowed to visit Pakistan and Azad Kashmir. He had contacts on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC). A region like Kashmir is full of threats for independent voices and especially for journalists who have been facing threats, detention, torture and harassment for several decades. Shujaat wrote on this in his 2012 article for NewsLaundry: “Though working conditions for journalists in Kashmir have seen some changes, professional hazards continue to loom large.” These became even larger after the death of Burhan Muzaffar Wani in 2016, which gave renewed the struggle for liberation in Kashmir. In such circumstances, Shujaat sets an example of unprecedented objectivity, bravery and professional commitment and saw his sufferings as part of the job.
The author with Shujaat Bukhari and Iftikhar Gillani, another journalist from Kashmir, during their visit to Muzaffarabad
Bukhari was a guiding light for young journalists. In 2008, he set up an attractive platform in the form of Rising Kashmir for journalists who wrote in English on both sides of the LoC. In doing so, he reached out to an international audience and highlighted the core issues of the Kashmir dispute.
Mohammad Yousaf Najar, a freelance writer based in the Indian-held Kashmir shared his memories with me. “I knew Shujaat Bukhari well before Rising Kashmir was launched as an alternative platform for budding journalists and writers. He would always welcome my opinion pieces with proper professional acknowledgements. His help was just a click away. Shujaat Bukhari’s killing has broken us all to the core of our hearts. The world may never find another noble soul like his again.”
Yousaf said Shujaat was the latest victim of various contestations related to the festering wound called the Kashmir conflict. “A versatile voice silenced in a dastardly act cannot be explained without proper context: that of the rise of right wing forces which have greatly threatened the freedom and independence of press. His gruesome killing is a direct attack on the vibrant press in Kashmir which emerged as the only authentic window for the world to understand the ground realities of the conflict.”
Shujaat became part of peace talks, looking for a peaceful solution to a decades-old crisis. He believed that everyone should play their role in efforts for peace and find a way forward for the longstanding dispute. He engaged authorities from both India and Pakistan and even Hindu nationalists. Once he told his friends that these same people were baying for his blood but despite that he believed in positive engagement with the Indian society as the only way out.”
Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan, while addressing a sit-in in Muzaffarabad on the day of Shujaat’s burial, said he had played a significant role in the compilation of the recently-released UN human rights report on Kashmir. He said Shujaat’s assassination could be a reaction to this report.
People from both parts of the divided parts of the state termed the killing as an act of terror aimed at silencing sane voices calling for a peaceful and sustainable solution to the conflict. Kashmiris are demanding that his murderers be brought to justice.
Shujaat Bukhari was a member of The Friday Times family whose opinion pieces on the latest Kashmir situation, human rights and others attracted great attention by our esteemed readers. His last piece ‘How Real is Fake News?’ appeared on June 15, on the day when he was buried in his ancestral village at Kreeri in Baramula district of Kashmir. His voice will be missed on our pages.
Mubashar Naqvi is a freelance writer based in Muzaffarabad. He can be contacted on Twitter via @SMubasharNaqvi
