The Killing of Shujaat Bukhari - Joint Statement-cum-Resolution issued by Journalist Organisations

A meeting of journalists was organised at the Press Club of India, New Delhi on June 18 to pay homage to the Kashmiri journalist, Shujaat Bukhari, who was assassinated in the heart of Srinagar on June 14, 2018. A joint statement-cum-resolution was adopted by the journalist organisations that organised the meeting—Press Club of India, Indian Women’s Press Corps, Press Association, Editors Guild of India, SAFMA, South Asian Women in Media, IJU, NUJ, FCC and Working News Camerapersons Association. The following is the joint statement-cum-resolution.

The remembrance-cum-solidarity meeting held today under the aegis of various journalist associations condemns the shocking killing of Shujaat Bukhari, Editor in-Chief of Rising Kashmir, and his two PSOs. Bukhari’s senseless murder demands accountability at various levels.

Everyone in this country has this sovereign right to freedom of speech and expression. The increasing intolerance to such freedoms has the potential of undermining the character and nature of democracy itself.

We demand that the Government of Jammu and Kashmir bring the perpetrators of this dastardly crime to book at the earliest. We demand that the government institute a separate inquiry into those who had launched a malicious campaign against Shujaat. The cyber cell of the Union Home Ministry should look into all those IP addresses and their sources from where the malicious campaigns were conducted.

We feel that such killings are often preceded by hate messages and malicious campaigns on the social media. Vavious journalists and other civilians have been viciously trolled and targeted. All such instances ought to be monitored by a vigilant government if civilian safety and security is a priority in governance.

(June 18, 2018)