SRINAGAR – On Friday, BJP leader from Occupied Jammu and Kashmir ChoudharyLal Singh warned journalists, asking them to ‘mend their ways’ and evenmade a reference to the assassination of Shujaat Bukhari.
The forest minister in the PDP-BJP governmentlink>beforehe was asked to resign from the cabinet in April after participating in arally supporting the accused in the rape and murder of a 8-year-old tribalgirl in Kathua, said that journalists in Kashmir had created a ‘wrongatmosphere’.
In an apparent reference to Shujaat Bukhari, who was assassinated by gunmenon June 14, he was quoted saying by HTlink>:“Kashmir’s journalists had created an unsavoury atmosphere. Now I will tellKashmiri journalists to draw a line on the journalism you do and how youhave to live. Do you have to live like what happened to Basharat, so thatsuch a situation emerges?”
He added: “So mend your ways and draw a line, so that this brotherhoodremains intact and there is progress.”
Basharat is a PDP leader who is Shujaat Bhukar’s brother who was the lawminister in the PDP-BJP alliance.
His statement drew a sharp rebuke from former J&K CM Omar Abdullah, whotweeted: “Dear journalists, your colleagues in Kashmir just got threatenedby a @BJP4India MLA. It seems Shujaat’s death is now a tool for goons touse to threaten other journalists.”
Congress’ Randeep S Surjewala asked if BJP leaders had any ‘specialknowledge of the assassination’.
He wrote on Twitter: “Shocking & reprehensible! BJP J&K MLA, Lal Singhopenly threatens journalists to ‘fall in line & draw a line’. Hehorrifically says that otherwise they will meet the fate of Shujat Bukhariby naming his brother. Does BJP leaders have some special knowledge of theassassination?”
Lal Singh had once been in the news for threatening Gujjars of Kashmir,reportedly reminding them of the massacre of Muslims in Jammu afterpartition in 1947.
Bukhari, chief editor of Rising Kashmir, was assassinated when threebike-borne terrorists opened fired at him outside his office at presscolony in Srinagar on June 14