 "Shujaat Bukhari assassinated: Veteran Kashmiri scribe tweeted about 'journalism with pride' hours before death")
At an event titled ‘Tackling Insurgent Ideologies’ held in New Delhi from 11 to 13 June this year, the topic of Kashmir militancy came up. One of the speakers, Anand Ranganathan, pointed to the stand taken by Shujaat Bukhari, editor of the Rising Kashmir newspaper, when the Charlie Hebdo attacks had taken place.
Freedom of expression must not be absolute when it comes to Faith. A line needs to be drawn. Lessons learnt #FrenchAttack
— Shujaat Bukhari (@bukharishujaat) January 7, 2015
It was an extension of the argument Bukhari had taken in the past, when he said he’d be “proud to be intolerant” when it comes to the Prophet Muhammad.
We must join the protest against the film today...When it comes to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) am proud to be intolerant...
— Shujaat Bukhari (@bukharishujaat) September 18, 2012
Addressing the gathering in Delhi over how the press deals with insurgencies, Ranganathan brought this up. “It’s a very violent insurgency brought about by a heady mix of religion and the defence of Pakistan. If you’re an editor and want to send a reporter to cover it, it’s essential for the editor to be careful as to what reporter he sends to this ‘warzone’,” Ranganathan said. He highlighted the coverage in Rising Kashmir given to the stone pelting protests that were taking place in this context. “Ten days ago, when a CRPF jeep was being heavily attacked by stone-pelters, he took a snapshot of a stone pelter who had come under the jeep and he tweeted asking if this is the standard operating procedure,” he recalled. This is the tweet he was referring to:
These pictures from #Srinagar downtown are very disturbing. This is horrible way to quell a protest. Government and #CRPF must explain. Is it the new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). Hope they survive. Pic courtesy #KashmirJournalistsHub pic.twitter.com/WrZ0ENgZbX
— Shujaat Bukhari (@bukharishujaat) June 1, 2018
He then added, “When an editor of a publication covering this violent insurgency has taken this quasi-religious side, then you can be sure as to the coverage you will get.” Bukhari responded later the same evening, saying:
It is unfortunate that a credible think tank like @orfonline should allow this diatribe in absence of the person referred to. In #Kashmir we have done Journalism with pride and will continue to highlight what happens on ground. @samirsaran https://t.co/bGjajFT9yb
— Shujaat Bukhari (@bukharishujaat) June 14, 2018
Impact Shorts
More ShortsLess than 24 hours after Bukhari sent out the tweet, he was gunned down in Srinagar. Ranganathan, the man at the centre of the controversy, was slammed on Twitter for the stand he took two days earlier. He expressed his condolences at Bukhari’s assassination and slammed his critics in a lengthy nine-part tweet:
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