Losses that Cannot be Filled

COMMENTARY

As we go to press news has just arrived from Srinagar that noted professional journalist Syed Shujaat Bukhari is no more. He was gunned down near his office (he was earlier the correspondent of The Hindu, and subsequently was editing the newspaper Rising Kashmir) in Press Colony in the J & K capital this evening and was declared dead when the body reached the hospital.

One had first met him in the autumn of 1994 when one visited Kashmir in November that year. Besides accompanying him in meetings with several Kashmiri leaders and noted personalities one had the opportunity to discuss with him several aspects of the situation there and this helped one to understand the prevailing conditions in J&K. The last time one met him was at the Institute of Social Sciences in New Delhi where a seminar on Kashmir took place several months ago.

Shujaat will always remain fresh in one’s memory as an alert and ever vigilant journalist aptly portraying the evolving scenario in the Kashmir Valley.

On June 6, 2018 veteran trade unionist G.L. Dhar, who was one of the undisputed leaders of the Central Government employees, passed away in the Capital. He was the General Secretary of the Federation of Central Secretariat and Allied Offices’ Employees and later was elected as the AITUC Secretary. He played a seminal role in the Central Government employees’ strike in 1968.

The losses suffered by the departure of these two personalities cannot ever be filled.

June 14 Observer