The Dirty War in Kashmir: In Shujaat Bukhari's Words

Shujaat Bukhari (1968-2018) was a journalist based in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. He worked as the Srinagar correspondent for the Frontline and was the editor of Rising Kashmir. On June 14, 2018, Shujaat was brutally gunned down outside his office. Before he was killed, he had documented the damage done to Kashmir for Frontline. Leftword has curated a compilation of Shujaat Bukhari's reports from May 2017 to his assassination titled 'The Dirty War in Kashmir'. Excerpts of the book along with archival footage of the valley bring to life the Kashmir that Shujaat writes about in these Frontline reports. Shujaat points to the growing discontentment among the people and the increasing civilian support for militants that arises as a consequence of this. He also highlights the violence inflicted by the state and the impact that this has had on the minds of Kashmiri youth. He warns about the growing danger of communalisation in Jammu since the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power. With stone-pelting, curfews, encounters and death characterizing the new Kashmir, these excerpts of Shujaat's reports offer insights into the ways and means to bring about lasting peace in the valley – a cause for which Shujaat lived and died.