Rising Kashmir hits the stands with Shujaat Bukhari tribute on front page

Rising Kashmir published its daily edition with a photo of late editor-in-chief Shujaat Bukhari and a message that said it would not be cowed down

English newspaper Rising Kashmir hit the stands on Friday with a photograph of Shujaat Bukhari, the newpaper’s murdered editor-in-chief, on its front page. Bukhari was shot dead in Srinagar on Thursday.

Rising Kashmir editor-in-chief Shujaat Bukhari and his two personal security officers were shot dead near his office in Srinagar on Thursday. (Rising Kashmir)

Rising Kashmir published its daily edition with a full-page photograph of Bukhari against a black background and message that said it would not be cowed down.

“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.

Bukhari and his two personal security officers were shot dead by three unidentified gunmen outside Rising Kashmir’s office in Press Enclave near Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Thursday evening.

His murder has been decried by politicians and journalists. Separatists have condemned Bukhari’s killing, terming it barbaric and unpardonable.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah tweeted the front page of Rising Kashmir and said: “The show must go on. As Shujaat would have wanted it to. This is today’s Rising Kashmir issue. That Shujaat’s colleagues were able to bring out the paper in the face of insurmountable grief is a testament to their professionalism and the most fitting tribute to their late boss.”

Bukhari will be laid to rest in his ancestral village in Kreeri in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Friday.

(With PTI inputs)