Thousands throng Shujaat Bukhari’s funeral in his ancestral village

Senior Journalist Shujaat Bukhari laid to rest

Senior journalist and Chief Editor of daily Rising Kashmir Shujaat Bukhari, was laid to rest today in his ancestral village a day after he was shot dead outside his office in Srinagar. Braving heavy rain, crowds of tearful mourners from across the Valley followed the cortege through the streets of Village KreeriĀ in Baramulla district.Amongst those who took part in the last rites of the journalist and visited his ancestral home to condole with the family were opposition leader Omar Abdullah and ministers from the PDP and the BJP. It was probably the biggest funeral procession the village had seen. There was a traffic jam in the area as the crowds of mourners swelled.The editor of Rising Kashmir’ and his two personal security officers (PSOs) were shot dead by terrorists outside the newspaper’s office in the heart of Jammu and Kashmir’s summer capital.Bukhari, 50, was gunned down soon after he got into his car from his office at Press Enclave in Lal Chowk. Bukhari was instrumental in organising several conferences for peace in the Kashmir Valley. He was also part of the Track II process with Pakistan.