Shujaat Bukhari's 'targeted assassination' has closed chapter in J-K: N Ram

The "targeted assassination" of Shujaat Bukhari has closed a chapter in Jammu and Kashmir, one in which it was believed that journalists covering things in a proper way would not be killed, The Hindu Group chairperson N Ram said today.

Ram, who was editor-in-chief of The Hindu where Bukhari worked between 1997 and 2012, remembered him as a "brave" and "resourceful" journalist who was "not reckless" and knew ways to negotiate through the "dangers and traps" in Jammu and Kashmir.

"He was not a government's man. He was not an establishment's man. Nor was he in sympathy with the extremist elements...he was voice for a just solution however difficult that is going to be in Jammu and Kashmir," he told NDTV in an interview, a day after Bukhari was killed outside his Srinagar office.

The noted editor said the killing had come as a shock because it was believed that journalists will not be killed in Jammu and Kashmir.

"There have been such cases in the past but not many. You have to go back 15 years before you could recollect that a journalist was killed. There are other places in India which have seen more fatalities, but in this case, I think it was a targeted attack. They targeted him for his moderation, for his sanity and for his quest for justice," he said.

Whenever there was an exchange of fire or an encounter between security forces and militants, there would be excitement in the newsroom because it was known that Shujaat and the photographer would be on the spot, being "bare witness" to the events and reporting vividly, Ram said.

The Hindu Group chairperson said they knew how to protect themselves and that was very impressive.

"...there was a belief that has been vindicated that journalists were not going to be targeted if they cover things in a proper way so they could go into areas where the extremists were active, but that chapter perhaps is over with this horrible assassination," he said.

Ram noted that it was not some random killing or somebody who was a collateral in a terror activity.

"It is a targeted assassination for his views, for the journalism he did and for the middle path that he trot with remarkable consistency," he said.

Ram said Bukhari was remarkably consistent wherever he worked.

"Throughout I found there was no departure from what he would have considered a middle path in Kashmir...," he added.

Bukhari, 50, was gunned down yesterday evening soon after he got into his car from his office at Press Enclave in the city centre, Lal Chowk, on his way to an iftar party.