Bukhari's killing an act of cowardice: Rajnath

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday condemned the killing of Rising Kashmir editor Shujaat Bukhari in Srinagar and termed it an "act of cowardice".

The veteran journalist and his PSO were shot dead by unidentified gunmen outside the newspaper's office in Press Enclave near Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Thursday.

Expressing shock at the journalist's death, the home minister tweeted, "The killing of @RisingKashmir editor, Shujaat Bukhari is an act of cowardice. It is an attempt to silence the saner voices of Kashmir. He was a courageous and fearless journalist."

"Extremely shocked & pained at his death. My thoughts and prayers are with his bereaved family," he said on Twitter.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi too expressed grief over the death of the journalist and said Bukhari was fearlessly fighting for peace in Jammu and Kashmir.

"I'm anguished to hear about the killing of Shujaat Bukhari, editor of @RisingKashmir. He was a brave heart who fought fearlessly for justice and peace in Jammu & Kashmir. My condolences to his family. He will be missed (sic)," Gandhi said.

BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav also termed the senior journalist's killing a cowardly act by the terrorists.

In a tweet, he said, "Shocked to hear about d attack on d Editor-in-Chief of Rising Kashmir Shujaat Bukhari in Srinagar. Reprehensible n condemnable cowardly act of d terrorists (sic)"

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah said, "Shocked beyond words. May Shujaat find a place in Jannat & May his loved ones find strength at this difficult time."

Abdullah also posted a screenshot of his last conversation with Bukhari on Twitter.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad tweeted, "Deeply saddened to learn about the dastardly killing of @RisingKashmir editor #ShujaatBukhari. Such an attempt to suppress the sane voices by terrorists will never succeed."

Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore called Bukhari's killing an attack on the freedom of the press.

"Assassination of #ShujaatBukhari is a brutal attack on freedom of the press. A cowardly and deplorable act of terror. Our fearless media is one of the greatest strength of our democracy and we are committed to provide a safe and conducive working environment to media persons," he said on Twitter.

The Editors Guild of India tweeted, "The Editors Guild of India unequivocally condemns the assassination of Rising Kashmir Editor Shujaat Bukhari. This is a grave attack on press freedom and democratic voices. We will be issuing a more detailed statement soon."