Jammu, June 20: As a mark of protest against the murder of senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar, all major newspapers in the state left the editorial space blank. According to a report by Hindustan Times, the editorial spaces of English dailies such as Greater Kashmir, Kashmir Times, Kashmir Reader and Rising Kashmir were all blank. Meanwhile, the vernacular newspaper like Tamili Irshad and the Daily Aftab too followed the league.

Reports inform that the decision of leaving the space blank was collectively taken after the powerful Kashmir Editors Guild (KEG) met after the Eid vacations on Monday.

For the unversed, veteran journalist and Editor of popular Kashmiri newspaper, 'Rising Kashmir' Shujaat Bukhari was gunned down by three gunmen on a motorcycle while he was in his car. The incident took place soon after he got into his car from his office at Press Enclave in the city centre, Lal Chowk.

On June 15, Bukhari was laid to rest in his ancestral village, a day after he was shot dead outside his office in Srinagar. Scores of tearful mourners from across the Valley followed the cortege through the streets of Baramulla district. According to a PTI report, 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.

On Tuesday, separatist leaders called for a complete shutdown in Kashmir on Wednesday against the killings of journalist Shujaat Bukhari and civilians, gunned down by security forces in the past few days. Bukhari was instrumental in organising several conferences for peace in the Kashmir Valley. He was also part of the Track II process with Pakistan.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 20, 2018 12:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).