Vacuum In The Valley

Governor’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir could strengthen separatists and militants in the state

- Tariq Bhat

Shujaat Bukhari, editor-in-charge of Rising Kashmir, was no stranger to assassination attempts. He had said that he had escaped three attempts on his life; the last in June 2006. He was, therefore, given personal security officers (PSOs) by the government. Bukhari was involved in track-II diplomacy with Pakistan and frequently travelled to various countries for peace talks. One such initiative, in Dubai in October 2017, is believed to have provoked militants.

The conference called for the cessation of hostilities and the revival of the ceasefire agreement arrived at by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and general Pervez Musharraf in 2003. Militants dismissed the suggestions. Syed Salahuddin, chairman of Muzaffarabad-based United Jihad Council, a coalition of various militant groups, and supreme commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, had termed the participation of Kashmiris in the conference as treachery.

On June 14, 2018, Bukhari and two of his PSOs, one of whom doubled as the driver of his SUV, were shot multiple times near the Press Enclave on Residency Road, Srinagar. They had stepped out of the Rising Kashmir office only moments ago. The four assailants struck when the markets in the area were still buzzing with pre-Eid shoppers. The police are convinced the attackers had carried out a reconnaissance of the location and chosen the time carefully. The assailants took out AK-47s from a burlap bag, came close to the SUV and sprayed bullets at Bukhari and the SPOs, seconds after they had got into the car. Journalists working in the newsrooms nearby mistook the gunfire for fireworks on the eve of Eid. They rushed out only after some passersby who had witnessed the incident raised an alarm. By then, the assailants had fled on a motorcycle. The attack happened metres away from a picket of the Central Reserve Police Force.