Shujaat Bukhari became a victim of conflicting narratives of Kashmir, said senior journalists who came together to pay tribute to the “fearless truth seeker” at the Press Club of India on Monday.
“Shujaat was a peace activist who believed in his ideas. He was a clear example of a peace volunteer and we should remember him like that. There was a sustained hate campaign that was being run against him before his death. We should also urge the Ministry of Home Affairs to look into the matter of hate campaigns as such instances have led to the heinous murder,” said Gautam Lahiri, president of the Press Club of India.
Senior journalists had gathered for a memorial service for Shujaat who was assassinated on June 14.
Condemning the murder, the Editors Guild of India in a statement said, “Our deepest sympathy goes to his family and our colleagues in Rising Kashmir . We call on the Central and State governments to thoroughly and transparently investigate. He was a fearless truth seeker and an advocate of dialogue between India and Pakistan, peace and consolation. We honour the extraordinary strength and courage of Shujaat.”
Speaking at the event, journalist Nidhi Razdan said, “He was not afraid to take a stand on things that mattered to him. One of the things he really worked for was to make Kashmiri Pandits and Muslims talk again. He was often labelled by either sides. However, it was incredible that despite this his paper carried all sides of the complex problem in these difficult times. What we should take away from this is that we should stop labelling each other no matter what our political views are.”
Siddharth Vardarajan, editor of The Wire , said, “Shujaat had the courage to speak forthrightly. He was a spokesperson for sanity in Jammu and Kashmir, who was forced to traverse a difficult terrain. The fact that the spokesperson of the rationale has been attacked like this sends it own chilling message to others there. We should stop this labelling as vilification on social media has consequences. Kashmir and Indian media has lost an articulate voice.”
Media urged
Urging the media to stand up to the present situation, Bashir Assad, a freelance journalist, said, “If the entire media fraternity has any sympathy for us Kashmiris, then you have to be vocal to arrive at some sort of peace in Kashmir. The Kashmiri society is derailing and we need to protect it. That will be the biggest tribute to him.”
“He was a peace activist and a great human being. I had spoken to him a few minutes before he was shot. When the news came in, it was impossible for me to believe it. The only regret is that the Prime Minister has not yet condemned it,” said Abdul, a journalist with the Rising Kashmir .
