Srinagar
Thousands of people on Friday attended the funeral procession of veteran journalist and Editor-in-Chief of English Rising Kashmir Shujaat Bukhari, who was laid to rest in his ancestral village here a day after he was shot dead outside his office in Srinagar.
KL Image by Bilal Bahadur
Braving heavy rain, crowds of tearful mourners from across the Valley followed the cortege through the streets of this remote hamlet in Baramulla district.
Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, state Public Works Minister Naeem Akhtar, senior Congress leader Saifuddin Soz, local journalists and other members from all sections of the society attended the funeral.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti was also among the mourners in Kreeri.
The editor of Rising Kashmir’ and his two personal security officers (PSOs) were shot dead by unknown gunmen outside the newspaper’s office in the heart of Jammu and Kashmir’s summer capital.
Political leaders such as Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Congress President Rahul Gandhi offered their condolences, calling the killing a “cowardice and a mindless act.”
Kl Image by Bilal Bahadur
The Editors Guild of India condemned the “dastardly attack” on Bukhari, calling it a “new low.”
Militant groups condemned the killing while demanding an international probe into the attack.
It was probably the biggest funeral procession the village had seen, locals said.
There was a traffic jam in the area as the crowds of mourners swelled.
