Journalists: Who Were Shot Dead, Are They Martyrs?

As a Journalist you are expected to report the truth without any bias. In a democracy, they do it in the best interest of the society. In a prefect scenario, they should be awarded for their service to nation building. Now imagine a situation where scribes have to do so at the expense of their very lives, which is what the current situation in India.

Having witnessed lot of confidential issues, a Journalist plays the role of Common man, Spy, Bureaucrat, Social activist and what not without any expectation from any side. Hence, what a Journalist is rewarded out of its contribution in forming a state, as a press, is a death penalty.

We all are aware about the fact that India finds itself in a shameful position with this year’s tally of several journalists either murdered or killed in suspicious situations.

Every year the number of deaths of Journalist sparks uncommon outrage, all come together in protest of growing terror and justice for the sufferers. But hardly there is a movement because the very nature of the complex human behavior with respect to their profession can’t be changed. More over let’s assume its a game where the Journalist will keep on performing their duties and the opponents will perpetrate terror to generate fear.

Below lets try to know the reason behind “Why these famous Journalists were assassinated?”

1. Bakshi Tirath Singh
On 27th February, 1992, Singh, the Dhuri- based reporter for the Punjabi newspaper “Hindi Samachar”, was killed by unknown assassins. The motive for the attack could be confirmed but it is still not attempted though.

2. Shivani Bhatnagar
On January 23, 1999, Shivani was murdered by Indian Police Service officer Ravi Kant Sharma which became a scandal that reached into the top levels of Indian politics. She was a journalist working for the Indian Express newspaper. He took her life away because he feared she would expose their “intimate” relations.

3. Irfan Hussian
Irfan Hussain was a senior cartoonist for the Indian magazine, Outlook, who was kidnapped and murdered on 8 March 1999.There have been no convictions in the case so far. But The National Herald, received an anonymous phone call from someone claiming to be from the Shiv Sena, saying that Hussain had already been murdered; and that he and another Delhi cartoonist, Sudhir Tailang, would also be killed soon. Shiv Sena, a Hindu nationalist party, denied its involvement.

4. Adir Rai
A freelance Journalist from Jharkhand was murdered on 18th March 2000 while on assignment, according to a brief report published in the English-language newspaper The Hindu. In addition to serving as the president of the Deoghar Working Journalists Union, Rai was also a lecturer at a local college, according to the paper. Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is still investigating to determine whether the death was work-related.

5. Ram Chander Chhatrapati
Chhatrapati died on 21st November 2002,he ran a local Hindi-language evening daily Poora Sach in Sirsa, Haryana. Chhatrapati was the journalist who published the anonymous letter accusing Dera Sacha Sauda leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh of a rape, of which he would later be found guilty. On the night of 24 October two men riding a motorcycle shot Chhatrapati at point-blank range outside his residence. The journalist succumbed to his injuries four weeks later.

6. Jyotirmoy Dey
Jyotirmoy Dey also known as Jyotendra Dey, Commander J, and J Dey, was an Indian journalist, crime and investigations editor for Mid Day and an expert on the Mumbai underworld. He was shot dead by motorcycle-borne sharpshooters on 11 June 2011.

7. Rajesh Verma
A part-time stringer for the TV news channel IBN 7, was shot in the chest while he was covering confrontations between Hindus and Muslims in the small city of Muzaffarnagar. Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh met with Verma’s family and told them the culprits would be held responsible. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav announced financial support of Rs. 1,500,000 for Verma’s family. The report, which was filed in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate Narendra Kumar, said that the accused remain unidentified.

8. Rajdev Rajan
He is also known as Rajdeo Ranjan who was an Indian journalist for the Hindustan Daily in Siwan, Bihar, India, was shot to death on May 13th 2016. Ranjan was allegedly targeted as a result of having published several articles in the Hindustan Daily concerning the questionable actions of Shahabuddin. Well CBI was unsuccessful in it’s investigation in justice to the Journalist’s murder.

9. Gauri Lankesh
Gauri Lankesh was an Indian journalist-turned-activist from Bangalore, Karnataka. She worked as an editor in Lankesh Patrike, a Kannada weekly started by her father P. Lankesh. She was shot to death by unknown assailants outside her home on September 5, 2017. At the time of her death, Gauri was known for being a critic of right-wing Hindu extremism. In 2018, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murder case detained two suspects, whom they also suspected of being involved in the murders of Dabholkar and Kalburgi.

10. Shujatat Bukhari
Shujaat Bukhari was a Indian journalist and editor of Srinagar based Rising Kashmir newspaper. On 14 June 2018, he was shot dead by unidentified assailants outside his office in the Press Enclave area of Srinagar.He had survived three assassination attempts on previous occasions.

Safety of a media person is doubtful task, out of media population of vulnerable nations where seeking justice is a dream due to unsolved cases, portrayed as if mysteries. Hence, leaving us into the trap, all of questions, among which currently trending one is “Will the life of Journalist at least be considered as martyr?”