Kashmir newspapers publish blank editorials against Shujaat Bukhari’s murder | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Kashmir newspapers publish blank editorials against Shujaat Bukhari’s murder

Hindustan Times, Srinagar | ByAshiq Hussain
Jun 19, 2018 10:50 PM IST

The collective decision was taken after the powerful Kashmir Editors Guild met on Monday evening immediately after the Eid vacations.

All the major newspapers in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday left the space devoted to editorials blank as a protest against the murder of senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari in Srinagar.

Rising Kashmir editor-in-chief Shujaat Bukhari was assassinated by three men outside his office at press colony in Srinagar on June 14.(PTI // Twitter @bukharishujaat)
Rising Kashmir editor-in-chief Shujaat Bukhari was assassinated by three men outside his office at press colony in Srinagar on June 14.(PTI // Twitter @bukharishujaat)

The editorial spaces of English dailies such as Greater Kashmir, Kashmir Times, Kashmir Reader and Rising Kashmir were all blank, so was the case with vernacular newspaper such as Tamili Irshad and the Daily Aftab.

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The collective decision was taken after the powerful Kashmir Editors Guild (KEG) met on Monday evening immediately after the Eid vacations.

“The editorial is the heart of a newspaper. Since our voices have been silent since the murder, we decided to show our protest. There was a proposal of suspending publications for a day but newspapers are the voice of people , so we decided to publish without editorial to make our point,” said KEG spokesperson Shafat Kira.

Rising Kashmir editor-in-chief Shujaat Bukhari, 50, was assassinated three men outside his office at press colony in Srinagar on June 14. His two personal security officers were also killed in the attack. The killing of Bukhari, who also edited papers such as Buland Kashmir and Sangermal, sent shockwaves across the country and triggered widespread condemnation.

The blank editorials in Jammu and Kashmir came a day after scores of people marched on the streets of Srinagar against the murders.

Editors, correspondents, photojournalists and journalism students walked hand in hand with tapes covering their mouths from Press Enclave to city centre Lal Chowk to protest what they called was an assault on the freedom of expression.

“We want to send this message across that whatever the circumstances our freedom to express won’t be subdued by this murder. We won’t let this incident stop us from doing our work whatever the difficulties or fear. We have faced this situation before and even if there are more obstacles we won’t remain away from performing our professional duties,” said a protester.

“We have to talk about people, about truth and we will do that. Shujaat sahib has taught us this and we will not remain behind,” he said.

Jammu and Kashmir Police blamed the attack on terrorists and released pictures of four persons and have arrested one. Militant organizations like Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba condemned the killings and blamed Indian agencies for the murder.

The only man arrested in connection with the murder after being captured on cameras stealing the pistol of one of the slain security guards has not provided any clues yet and may not be connected to the three main suspects.

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