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| Why did Mehbooba ignore Shujaat Bukhari's plea for more security? | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, June 21: The tears shed by former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in front of the camera after the gruesome murder of senior journalist and daily Rising Kashmir's editor Shujaat Bukhari by militants in Srinagar last week was not out of sympathy. It was rather to hide her failure to protect him.
Bukhari's plea to have his existing security cover increased fell on Mehbooba's deaf ears after he approached her only a few days before his assassination along with his two guards in Srinagar's Press Enclave.
The government had given five Special Police Officers to Bukhari for his protection, but only two of them were accompanying him at the time of his brutal murder.
Now, reports say that some days before his killing Bukhari had approached Mehbooba Mufti and apprised her in detail how he feared his life was in danger as militants wanted to bump him off. Bukhari had referred to the malicious campaign launched against him on a blog believed to be operated by separatists and their handlers based in Pakistan. Former RAW chief, A S Dulat, who is also an old Kashmir hand, has also revealed that Bukhari had requested the Chief Minister to enhance his security cover.
There is no doubt that Bukhari's killing was carried out by the militants on the orders of their masters across the border in Pakistan. But Mehbooba Mufti "is equally responsible for Shujaat Bukhari's killing as he was denied an increased security by her," says a political commentator while requesting not to be named.
Some analysts say that Mehbooba viewed local media as her adversary as it refused to toe the official line most of the times. Rising Kashmir, the newspaper edited by Bukhari, was a staunch opponent of Mehbooba's policies and batted for peace in the region. There are many newspapers, including Early Times, which are denied their fair share of government advertisements for not becoming official mouthpieces. On the other hand, there are dozens of newspapers whose circulation don't cross 3-digits, but they bag the lion's share of the advertisements for toeing the official line.
"This reflects how ill-informed she remained during her tenure as the CM of the state. She couldn't fathom the gravity of the situation after a vicious online campaign was launched against Bukhari. Till date, no hate campaigner against Bukhari has been booked," says another analyst.
It has also come to fore that many so-called journalists including some former militants-turned-renegades-turned-editors, who remain busy in writing PR pieces for the government and passing them off as reportage, enjoy Z-security while as Bukhari was denied the same. |
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