Rights body says killing a sign that even journalists with protection not safe in the Valley.
New Delhi: The NHRC has taken suo moto cognisance of the killing of Kashmiri journalist Shujaat Bukhari and issued a notice to the Jammu and Kashmir chief secretary and DGP, calling for a detailed report on the incident.
“The way Shujaat Bukhari had been killed by miscreants indicates that media persons, even those who have been provided police protection by the state government, are not safe in the Valley,” the Commission has stated. The slain journalist was “a rare voice of moderation and an advocate for peace and justice,” the Commission has further observed.
Bukhari and his two personal security officers were shot by unidentified gunmen outside the newspaper’s office in the Press Enclave at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk on 14 June.
While the NHRC does not usually intervene in matters relating to human rights violations in J&K, given the state’s special status, it has done so this time as the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) is closed for summer vacation till 30 June.
Intervention after South Asia body calls for action
The NHRC’s intervention in the matter came two days after South Asia Media Defenders Network (SAMDEN), a network of editors and media practitioners, urged both the NHRC and the SHRC to ensure swift investigation in the case.
“Bukhari’s murder underscores the threat to the lives of journalists and the impunity of killing and attacking them,” Sanjoy Hazaika, International Director of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) had said in a letter sent to NHRC chairperson Justice H L Dattu (retd), the SHRC, and David Kaye, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression.
The killing of the Kashmir-based daily Rising Kashmir’s editor, the NHRC has observed, “is a case of violation of Right to Life of the victim and the incident is causing serious threat to free speech and freedom of press in the State”.