Protest demonstrations were held across Pakistan Administered Kashmir (PaK) on Friday to condemn the assassination of journalist and editor Syed Shujaat Bukhari at the hands of unidentified gunmen in Srinagar on Thursday.
The participants at many places also offered funeral prayers in absentia for Bukhari. In Muzaffarabad, journalists and political activists gathered at Burhan Wani Chowk on the call of Syed Abrar Haider, president Central Press Club, to condemn the gruesome killing of 50-year old editor who enjoyed vast professional and personal contacts on this side of the divide which he had visited many times, particularly after the launch of peace process in Kashmir in 2004.
Participants included AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider, PPP regional president Chaudhry Latif Akbar, PTI regional senior vice president Khawaja Farooq Ahmed, PML-N leader Shahid Mahmood Wani, Kashmiri activist Uzair Ahmed Ghazali and others.
“Killing of Shujaat Bukhari proves India is involved in flagrant human rights violations in occupied Kashmir,” read one of the placards.
Through a resolution, read by senior journalist Muhammad Aslam Mir, the gathering called upon the UN to investigate the incident, which it said appeared to be aimed at “scaring and stopping Kashmiri journalists from publishing reports about incessant human rights violations by Indian government.”
It also urged the UN and other global human rights bodies to ensure security of the highly vulnerable journalist community in the conflict ridden state of Kashmir.
Journalists in the lakeside city of Mirpur also held a demonstration on the premises of Kashmir Press Club Mirpur. Former AJK Chief Justice Muhammad Azam Khan and PPP district president Chaudhry Qasim Majeed were among the participants.
They also offered funeral prayers in absentia. Similar events were reported from Bagh, Rawalakot and Kotli.