Bukhari and his two security guards, Hameed Chowdhary and Mumtaz Awan, were killed in this attack after which the assassins escaped. (IE) The murder in broad daylight of senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari, editor-in-chief of the English daily Rising Kashmir, has shocked the entire media fraternity in the Valley — and has them wondering whether the killers will ever be brought to justice. Bukhari is not the first journalist who has fallen to the bullets of unidentified assassins in Kashmir. So far, none of the killers has been cuaght and punished. The first media person to be killed in Kashmir was Lassa Koul, director of the local Doordarshan Kendra. Koul was kidnapped and subsequently killed in early 1990. In April 1991, Muhammad Shaban Vakil, editor of the vernacular daily Al-Safa, was killed in his office in Srinagar city. In September 1995, Mushtaq Ali, a photojournalist with the AFP wire service, was killed in a parcel bomb explosion in the office of Yusuf Jameel, the then BBC correspondent in Kashmir. A burqa-clad woman had delivered the parcel bomb at Jameel’s office in Srinagar’s Press Enclave. On January 1, 1997, Altaf Ahmad Faktoo, an anchor of the local Doordarshan Kendra was killed. On March 16, 1997, freelance journalist, Saidan Shafi was killed in Srinagar. In February 2003, Parvaz Muhammad Sultan, who ran a local news agency, was killed in his office, again in Srinagar’s Press Enclave. Bukhari himself had survived two assassinations attempts before the government provided him personal security guards. Bukhari had just come down from his office and boarded his car around 7.15 p.m. on Thursday in Press Enclave when three assassins came on a motorcycle and fired indiscriminately at his car. Bukhari and his two security guards, Hameed Chowdhary and Mumtaz Awan, were killed in this attack after which the assassins escaped. Bukhari’s murder has been widely condemned by everybody. Hardline senior separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani and chairman of Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umer Farooq joined the mourners, saying that the murder was totally unacceptable and needed to be condemned by everybody. Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, state Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, former chief minister Omar Abdullah, state secretary of CPI-M Yusuf Tarigami, members of the media fraternity and others across Kashmir society have condemned Bukhari’s killing. The family has taken the slain journalist’s body to his ancestral north Kashmir Kreeri town in Baramulla district where he will be buried later on Friday. The authorities have released the CCTV footage of three militants believed to be the Bukhari’s killers. Police has appealed people to help in bringing the killers to justice. Will Bukhari’s killers be brought to justice? This question is now haunting the media fraternity in Kashmir for whom discharge of professional duties is fraught with grave danger lurking at every nook and corner here.<doc-sep>Rising Kashmir editor-in-chief Syed Shujaat Bukhari who was killed on Thursday will be laid to rest in his ancestral village in Kreeri in north Kashmir's Baramulla district on Friday Auto refresh feeds Scourge of terror has reared its ugly head on the eve of Eid: Mehbooba Mufti "This is very shocking. What else can I say? Only a few days back, he had come to meet me," said an emotional Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. “You left all too sudden but you will always be our leading light with your professional conviction and exemplary courage. We won't be cowed down by the cowards who snatched you from us. We will uphold your principle of telling the truth howsoever unpleasant it may be...Rest in peace!” the paper said. Rising Kashmir hit the stands on Friday morning with its front page carrying the full-page photograph of its late editor-in-chief in black background. The page also carried the message that the paper would not be cowed down. Bukhari and his two PSOs were shot dead by unidentified gunmen outside Rising Kashmir office in Press Enclave near the city centre Lal Chowk here in Srinagar shortly before the iftaar on Thursday evening. Bukhari is survived by his wife and one son and a daughter. English newspaper 'Rising Kashmir' published its daily edition on Friday even after losing its editor-in-chief Shujaat Bukhari in an assassination which also left two of his two personal security officers (PSOs) dead. Several important individuals including top politicians, bureaucrats, officials of police and civil administration joined the funeral prayers of veteran journalist Syed Shujaat Bukhari at his ancestral village Kreeri. Funeral prayers in absentia will be held for slain journalist Shujaat Bukhari at Jamia Masjid after Friday prayers. Bukhari, who was editor-in-chief of Rising Kashmir was shot to death along with two police guards by unknown gunmen at Press Enclave in Srinagar on Thursday evening. Abdullah Ghazanwi, militant organization’s spokesman in a statement issued quoting Mahmood Shah, Chief of Lashkar-e-Taiba, said: “Killing of Shujaat Bukhari is 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. The world must pay attention to India’s vicious and ill-fated conspiracies.” Lashkar-e-Taiba on Friday strongly condemned the killing of senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari even as it blamed “Indian” agencies “enmity” towards every individual who is “loyal to the freedom movement.” “They have not killed a man but an idea, an idea about brining peace in Jammu and Kashmir. He was an institution who wanted to build brides between people of Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of India, and even Pakistan. His death has created a void that will not be easily fulfilled. How can anyone get anything out of by killings him," he said. Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, CPM leader and MLA from Kulgam told at the funeral of the Rising Kashmir editor that it was a cowardly act aimed at muzzling the voice of press in the state. Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said in a tweet: "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." This was third assassination attempt on him. He is survived by two children, both in school, and wife and aged parents. His father was a school teacher who belonged to an influential family of Sayeeds of Kreeri in north Kashmir. In June 2006, when he was leaving his office from the same Press Enclave, three gunmen directed him to board an auto. After they travelled few hundred meters one of the kidnappers received a call. The driver changed the direction and travelled through the busy streets of old Srinagar city, when they demanded of Bukhari to get out. One of the attackers took a pistol out and aimed at him. But it got locked. Bukhari raised hue and cry, some passersby came to help, and freed him from their clutches. Thursday was not the first time Bukhari faced an assasination bid “His loss is a huge set back to the entire press fraternity of the valley. The dastardly act amounts to attack on freedom of speech. Silencing a professional like him is absolutely unfortunate”, KPC Vice President Shuja ul Haq said in a statement issued in Srinagar. "The club is pained at the loss of its senior member and considers the killing as an assault on the entire media fraternity in Kashmir. Unfortunately, journalists in Kashmir have been prone to assaults from all sides of the conflict and the brazen attack on Shujaat inside the Press Enclave again brings to fore the risks under which media works in Kashmir. Such attacks on media fraternity are entirely unacceptable and KPC would like to reiterate that such acts would never cow down the resilience of the Kashmir media." "The Kashmir Press Club (KPC)/Aiwan-e-Sahafat has strongly condemned the gruesome killing of senior journalist and editor of Rising Kashmir Shujaat Bukhari." The Foreign Correspondents' Club of South Asia (FCC), New Delhi, condemned the brutal and senseless killing of senior Kashmiri journalist Shujat Bukhari in Srinagar. "We demand an immediate probe into this dastardly crime, and appeal to the authorities to find the guilty and punish them," it said in a statement. In a tweet, US ambassador to India Kenneth Juster said that the US Mission in India strongly condemns the killing of Shujaat Bukhari, and security officers Hamid Chaudhary and Mumtaz Awan. "We offer our sincere condolences to their family, friends, and colleagues," he said. According to police officials investigating the case, the youth keeping watch gestured to his associates as soon as the senior journalist stepped out of his office and boarded his vehicle to head home. After spraying the vehicle with bullets, the gunmen fired into the air to prevent people from taking the occupants of the car to the hospital. The gunmen soon left the place shouting Allahu Akbar (God is great). The killing of senior journalist and editor-in-chief of Rising Kashmir, Shujaat Bukhari, was meticulously planned . One youth kept a watch on him and later alerted the two other gunmen who came to the Press Enclave and fired on his vehicle from all the sides leaving him and two policemen guarding him dead. The Jammu and Kashmir police said that one of the suspects, now in custody, was seen picking up a pistol from the crime scene. The police said that the pistol has now been recovered. They also said that the accused's coat he was wearing on the day of the crime has also been recovered. Police recovers one of the pistols removed from scene of crime "At this point in time, this is a terror related incident, and there is no doubt about it. An SIT, led by DIG Jammu and Kashmir, has been formed which will investigate the crime," Jammu and Kashmir police said. "At this stage we are investigating the role of the fourth suspect. He was was seen picking up a pistol from the spot and vanishing. He is in custody," the IG Kashmir SP Pani said. Describing how worrying the societal sanction for violence in Kashmir is becoming the new normal in the Valley, especially for the youth, and the State's response to it, Bukhari wrote , "They (Kashmiri youth) resist government attempts to take on the militants. When the army, the paramilitary forces, and the police cordon an area to search for a militant, it is a civilian who puts up resistance and, in the end, both the militant and the civilian dies... Who is pushing these youth to pay this price and why? A look into the last few writings of the Rising Kashmir, where he worked as the editor-in-chief, gives an idea of his stand over several issues — be it condemning the social sanctioning of youth turning to violence in the Valley, asking the State to re-think on its methods or urging the Kashmiri society to reflect on the growing violence in the Valley.<doc-sep>Condolences have poured in after senior journalist, Shujaat Bukhari, and his security guard was shot dead in Srinagar on Thursday evening. Cutting across the party lines several politicians reacted on the incident which sent shock waves across the country. The Press club of India mourned the attack. Home Minister Rajnath Singh took to Twitter to condole the killing of senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari. The killing of @RisingKashmir editor, Shujaat Bukhari is an act of cowardice. It is an attempt to silence the saner voices of Kashmir. He was a courageous and fearless journalist. Extremely shocked & pained at his death. My thoughts and prayers are with his bereaved family, he tweeted The killing of @RisingKashmir editor, Shujaat Bukhari is an act of cowardice. It is an attempt to silence the saner voices of Kashmir. He was a courageous and fearless journalist. Extremely shocked & pained at his death. My thoughts and prayers are with his bereaved family. Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) June 14, 2018 Congress president Rahul Gandhi said Bukhari stood for justice and peace in Jammu and Kashmir. Im anguished to hear about the killing of Shujaat Bukhari, editor of @RisingKashmir. He was a brave heart who fought fearlessly for justice and peace in Jammu & Kashmir. My condolences to his family. He will be missed. June 14, 2018 West Bengal chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, condoled the killing saying she is shocked over killing of respected editor. Saddened and shocked at the brutal killing of respected editor and senior journalist @bukharishujaat With a few hours to go for Eid this is terrible. No words are enough for this big tragedy Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) June 14, 2018 Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Muft in her message said she is shocked and saddened by the sudden demise of Shujaat Bukhari. Shocked & deeply saddened by the sudden demise of Shujaat Bukhari. The scourge of terror has reared its ugly head on the eve of Eid. I strongly condemn this act of mindless violence & pray for his soul to rest in peace. My deepest condolences to his family. Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) June 14, 2018 Leaders and eminent personalities expressed shock and grief over the killing of the noted journalist. BJP's National General Secretary Ram Madhav termed the killing as "reprehensible and condemnable". Former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah also took to Twitter to condemn the Bukhari's murder. Quoting Bukhari's last tweet, Abdullah said Bukhari "died in the line of duty". Even in the last tweet he put out he was defending himself, his colleagues & his profession. He died in the line of duty doing what he did best & loved doing - journalism. #ShujaatBukhari https://t.co/xEA2hg2xp1 Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) June 14, 2018 JOURNALISTS NOT SAFE Releasing a statement on the killing of Shujaat Bukhari, the Press Club of India (PCI) deeply mourned the loss of Shujaat Bukhari's life. The statement said that terror attack that took Shujaat Bukhari's life "shows that lives of journalists are not at all safe. Forces inimical to restoring peace in Kashmir Valley have silenced a voice of reason, logic, and peace." Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman, All Parties Hurriyat Conference (M), in a tweet wrote such inhumanity is unpardonable. Deeply saddened and shocked by the tragic news of Shujaat Bukharis killing! Such inhumanity is unpardonable and condemned in the strongest terms!Proud son of the soil his death is a huge loss.Shujaat was an erudite intellectual a fearless journalist and above all a selfless ... Mirwaiz Umar Farooq (@MirwaizKashmir) June 14, 2018 READ | Noted Kashmiri journalist Shujaat Bukhari shot dead in Srinagar WATCH | Rising Kashmir editor Shujaat Bukhari shot dead in Srinagar<doc-sep>
Unidentified gunmen shot Shujaat Bukhari and the two officials as he was leaving his office in Srinagar’s Press Enclave. (Source: Facebook) Unidentified gunmen shot Shujaat Bukhari and the two officials as he was leaving his office in Srinagar’s Press Enclave. (Source: Facebook) The murder of Shujaat Bukhari, the editor of Rising Kahsmir, and his PSOs on the eve of Eid in Kashmir has left many shocked and heavy-hearted. Unidentified gunmen shot him and the two officials as he was leaving his office in Srinagar’s Press Enclave. Another security guard was critically injured in the attack. Other journalists, politicians, friends and well-wishers of Bukhari thereafter took to Twitter to pay their respects to him as well as condemn the act. Several, including Union Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore, labelled his murder as an attack on the freedom of press, others called it the “insanity of violence”. ALSO READ | Senior Kashmir editor Shujaat Bukhari shot dead, PSO also killed in attack on eve of Eid “Shujaat Bukhari yet another victim of the insanity of violence. When will sanity return to our Kashmir . Let a dialogue at least start before there is no space left for it. Meanwhile we condemn this unforgivable act of violence.” wrote Kapil Sibal, “Shocked & deeply saddened by the sudden demise of Shujaat Bukhari. The scourge of terror has reared its ugly head on the eve of Eid. I strongly condemn this act of mindless violence & pray for his soul to rest in peace. My deepest condolences to his family.” tweeted Mehbooba Mufti, after the news of Bukhari’s death spread. ALSO READ | Who was Shujaat Bukhari? Here is how politicians and other journalists are mourning Bukhari. inna lilahi wa inna illahi rajiuun. Shocked beyond words. May Shujaat find place in Jannat & May his loved ones find strength at this difficult time. — Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) June 14, 2018 My last DM exchange with #ShujaatBukhari. I can’t believe the mulaqat we were going to fix will never take place now. Life is just too uncertain & often too unkind. pic.twitter.com/8yED2iZKzl — Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) June 14, 2018 Shujaat Bukhari yet another victim of the insanity of violence. When will sanity return to our Kashmir . Let a dialogue at least start before there is no space left for it . Meanwhile we condemn this unforgivable act of violence . — Kapil Sibal (@KapilSibal) June 14, 2018 Shujaat Bukhari and I were colleagues at The Hindu. He was a formidable reporter, and, as editor of Rising Kashmir, a powerful voice for the embattled media fraternity, a true voice of sanity and reason. No words of condemnation are enough for the scum who have assassinated him. — Siddharth (@svaradarajan) June 14, 2018 The Editors Guild of India unequivocally condemns the assassination of Rising Kashmir Editor Shujaat Bukhari. This is a grave attack on press freedom and democratic voices. We will be issuing a more detailed statement soon — Editors Guild of India (@IndEditorsGuild) June 14, 2018 Shocked & deeply saddened by the sudden demise of Shujaat Bukhari. The scourge of terror has reared its ugly head on the eve of Eid. I strongly condemn this act of mindless violence & pray for his soul to rest in peace. My deepest condolences to his family. — Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) June 14, 2018 I’m anguished to hear about the killing of Shujaat Bukhari, editor of @RisingKashmir. He was a brave heart who fought fearlessly for justice and peace in Jammu & Kashmir. My condolences to his family. He will be missed. — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 14, 2018 The killing of @RisingKashmir editor, Shujaat Bukhari is an act of cowardice. It is an attempt to silence the saner voices of Kashmir. He was a courageous and fearless journalist. Extremely shocked & pained at his death. My thoughts and prayers are with his bereaved family. — Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) June 14, 2018 Heard the terrible news about senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari. Enemies of humanity have silenced a voice of sanity in Kashmir. May God give courage to his family in this hour of grief — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 14, 2018 Shujaat Bukhari was a voice of reason in Kashmir. Brilliant journalist who pandered to no extremes. He did his job honorably till his last breath & paid the price of being upright. Objectively reported human rights violations at the hands of Indian forces & extremists in Kashmir.