Kashmiri newspapers carry blank editorials

All major newspapers in Jammu and Kashmir, including English and vernacular dailies, on Tuesday carried blank editorials to protest against the drive-by killing of senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari in Srinagar last week. The space for editorials in English dailies such as Greater Kashmir, Kashmir Times, Kashmir Reader and Rising Kashmir, which Bukhari edited, was blank. Vernacular papers such as the Tamili Irshad and the Daily Aftab followed suit.

The collective decision was taken after the Kashmir Editors Guild (KEG) met on Monday evening after Eid, which was celebrated on Saturday. “Editorial is the heart of a newspaper. Since our voices have been silent since the murder; we decided to show our protest. There was a proposal of suspending publications for a day but newspapers are the voice of people , so we decided to publish without editorial to make our point,” said Shafat Kira, spokesperson of the KEG.

Bukhari, 50, was murdered by three motorbike-borne men who opened fire at him outside his office at Press Colony in Srinagar last Thursday. Two of his personal security officers were also killed. The killing of Bukhari, who also edited papers like Buland Kashmir and Sangermal, triggered condemnations from across the political spectrum.

The blank editorials came a day after a march on the streets of Srinagar against the murder. Editors, correspondents, photojournalists and journalism students walked hand-in-hand and with their mouths taped shut, in a protest against what they called an “assault on freedom of expression”. “We want to send this message across that whatever the circumstances, our freedom to express won’t be subdued by this murder. We won’t let this incident stop us from doing our work. We have faced this situation before and even if there are more obstacles we won’t remain away from performing our professional duties,” said a protester.

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