It has been exactly one year since Shujaat Bukhari, one ofthe most prominent faces of media from Kashmir valley was brutally murderedalong with his bodyguards in Srinagar’s fortified press colony on the eve ofEid. Shujaat Sahab’s murder was Kashmir valley’s most sensational and daringassassination since Mirwaiz Maulvi Farooq and Abdul Ghani Lone were killed in1990 and 2002 respectively. Such was the charisma, influence and profile ofShujaat Sahab, that his assassination not only shook the media fraternity, buthis murder also created tremors in the political corridors of both Srinagar andDelhi – the collapse of BJP – PDP government soon followed.
But how was the man Shujaat Bukhari? Was journalism, theonly facet of Shujaat Sahab’s versatile personality? And most importantly, whathas Kashmir lost in Shujaat Bukhari’s not being present today?
There are various ways in which one can remember ShujaatSahab. He was an amalgamation of several roles – a journalist, a politicalanalyst, a linguist, a poet, a writer, a promotor of culture, anenvironmentalist, a social activist, a human right activist and mostimportantly a peace seeker, all molded in one. But if there was one theme thatwas common in all these roles that he undertook, it was his love and passionfor Kashmir, Kashmiri language, Kashmiri culture, Kashmiri music, Kashmiripoetry and literature – in short, every thing that was Kashmiri or related toKashmir, which made him a quintessential Koshur Kashmiri, who yearned for peaceto return back to Kashmir valley, so that Kashmir could once again regain herlost glory. He did everything in his capacity to bring back lasting andpermanent peace to the troubled valley and in doing so, he has left a lastinglegacy that makes him one of the most influential Kashmiris post 1990s.
Both as a bureau chief of prestigious daily “The Hindu”,where he worked for 15 years and later as a founding editor of “RisingKashmir”, Shujaat Sahab wrote on plethora of issues pertaining to all aspectsof Kashmir – be it social, political, environmental, cultural and mostimportantly the human aspects of the devastation that last three decades havecaused to ordinary Kashmiris.
The kind of grip that Shujaat Sahab had on the nerve ofKashmir, no one could match the potency of his analysis. He was unsparing inhis criticism towards anyone and everyone, who he felt was taking advantage ofthe misery of ordinary Kashmiris and working against the interests of Kashmir.This passion for Kashmir led him to take upon such diverse matters as thetragedy of Kashmir’s unmarked graves and extrajudicial disappearances as wellas pathetic plight of Kashmir’s Wular, Anchar and Dal lakes, with equal easeand determination.
His greater interest lay in “culture of Kashmir” rather than”politics of Kashmir”. His passion for preservation of Koshur language made himlobby relentlessly with the state government for introduction of Koshurlanguage as a subject in schools of Kashmir through a cultural organizationcalled “Adabee Markaz Kamraz”, which he had formed to promote literary work inKoshur language. Had he grown up in 1960s and 70s, Shujaat Sahab would havebeen a cultural czar of Kashmir, sadly however, devastation of Kashmir meantthat he had to divert his attention towards seeking a lasting peace andstability in Kashmir.
Seeking “Peace” has unfortunately become a dangerousendeavor in violence ridden Kashmir. And yet, this did not deter Shujaat Sahabfrom making efforts towards resolution of Kashmir conflict. He was fully awareof advantages that his powerful position as a prominent media personality giveshim to both, push for official dialogue between India and Pakistan on Kashmirissue as well as to hold unofficial dialogue among members of civil society ofKashmir, Pakistan and India to find a way out of the Kashmir conundrumincluding his active forays in “Track IIdiplomacy”. Yet at the same time he was not oblivious of risks involved in suchefforts. He however continued his endeavors to find ways to get ever-sufferingpeople of Kashmir out of their misery and his efforts soon made him one of themost visible and vocal votaries of peace from Kashmir in national andinternational conferences and gatherings.
After Shujaat Sahab’s assassination, while many of hiscolleagues in media fraternity wrote some of the most moving and memorabletributes in his remembrance; unfortunately, however, there was a ratherundignified response of Kashmiri society to his assassination. While many inKashmir paid their “tribute” to him by posting their “selfies” with him ontheir social media accounts, the same Kashmiri society however refused to cometo any consensus on what led to his killing or who were responsible for hisassassination. Like many thousands before him including those, about whomShujaat Sahab had himself written, his brutal murder has also beenunfortunately relegated to the realm of “conspiracy theories”.
The greatest hallmark of Shujaat Sahab’s efforts was thateven amidst an atmosphere of death and destruction all over Kashmir, hepersevered to work on issues, which would have otherwise, been ignored. All thegains that were made in cultural fields like development of Kashmiri literatureetc. during 1960s & 70s were nearly lost during 1990s, when Kashmir wasburning incessantly. Everything from environment to culture suffered inKashmir. The remarkable thing about Shujaat Sahab’s efforts was his hard workin revival of Kashmiri literary traditions as well as highlighting social,cultural and environmental issues, while keeping a focus on the larger issue ofthe resolution of Kashmir conflict and bringing back peace and stability inKashmir. Only he had the foresight to see that an already ravaged and bruisedKashmir cannot be allowed to lose its cultural soul. With Shujaat Sahab nolonger being present amidst us, the greatest loss to Kashmir has been thatthere is no one even remotely in sight, who could act as a holistic well wisherof Kashmir. Sadly, absence of Shujaat Sahab has never been felt so strong.
(The author is a Political Activist and aspiring Politician,who has worked as PRO to Ex CM of J&K. He holds MBA & MPA degrees,besides having many years of corporate work experience at some of topFortune-500 companies like INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES BANGALORE…)