Journalists pay tribute to Shujaat Bukhari in Srinagar

Dozens of journalists held a condolence meet here on Thursday to pay tributes to their fallen colleague Shujaat Bukhari, who was killed by unidentified gunmen last week.

The journalists working with local, national and international organisations assembled at the auditorium hall of the state information department, where apart from speaking about Bukhari's personal and professional life, they discussed about how he was being trolled on social media continuously before his killing.

Later the journalists visited the office of Rising Kashmir at Press Enclave to express solidarity with the staff.

Bukhari, editor of Rising Kashmir was killed along with his two personal security officers (PSOs) on June 14 evening when he was coming out of his office and boarding his car.

Earlier, Bukhari's teenage son Tamheed had penned down the gamut of emotions he felt after hearing the shocking news of his father's death.

In a heartfelt tribute which appeared in Rising Kashmir while recalling the incident, he said, "June 14 was a horrific day for me and my family. It was the day I heard the horrible news of my father's untimely death. The moment I heard it, my legs started trembling, but I was still hoping against hope."

In the tribute titled: Papa was a man of principles, he said, "A thousand thoughts flooded my mind. May be, he is still in the operation theatre. May be, he will come running toward me and hug me. However, his fate had befallen, his soul ascended. I still couldn’t understand why someone would do this to a righteous man like my father, Shujaat Bukhari".

Tamheed said his father was the epitome of knowledge, benevolence, munificence and a thousand other noble qualities.

"His legacy is vast. I don’t know how I will be able to keep up with his expectations and magnanimity. He had always wanted me to become a man like his father, Syed Rafiuddin Bukhari, pious and generous," Tamheed added.

In the article he recalls how Bukhari spent his entire life looking to achieve peace and participated in several back-channel activities to work towards it.

The family has a bloody history with two of Bukhari's cousins earlier being killed in a crossfire between militants and the army.

Tamheed concluded by mentioning that his father had suffered a stroke couple of years ago, but fate had his death written on the most auspicious day of the holy month of Ramzan.

Meanwhile, a complete shutdown was observed across Kashmir against the killing of Bukhari and other civilians on Thursday.

The shutdown had been called by separatist leaders.