NEW DELHI
The remembrance cum solidarity meeting was held on Monday under the aegis of various journalist organisations condemns the shocking killing of Shujaat Bukhari, Editor in chief of Rising Kashmir and his two Personal Security Officers. Bukhari’s senseless murder demands accountability at various levels.
Everyone in this country has this sovereign right to freedom of speech and expression. The increasing intolerance to such freedoms has the potential of undermining the character and nature of democracy itself.
We demand that the government of Jammu and Kashmir bring the perpetrators of this dastardly crime to book at the earliest. We demand that the government institute a separate inquiry into those who had launched a malicious campaign against Shujaat. The cyber cell of the union home ministry should look into all those IP addresses and their sources from where the malicious campaigns were conducted.
We feel that such killings are often preceded by hate messages and malicious campaigns on the social media. Various journalists and other civilians have been viciously trolled and targeted. All such instances ought to be monitored by a vigilant government if civilian safety and security is a priority in governance.
Issued by Press Club of India, Indian Women’s Press Corps, Press Association, Editors’ Guild, SAFMA and South Asian Women in Media, IJU, FCC, NUJ, Working News Camerapersons Association, All India Urdu Editors Conference)