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Killed
April 10
Ghulam Rasool Sheikh, Rehnuma-e-Kashmir and Saffron Times, KILLED
The body of Sheikh, an editor of the Urdu-language daily Rehnuma-e-Kashmir and the English-language weekly Saffron Times, was found floating in Kashmir’s Jhelum River. Sheikh had been missing since late March, when family members say he was kidnapped by an Indian-backed militia. Local police, however, claim that he was abducted and slain by separatist guerrillas. Prior to his death, Sheikh had spoken out against an increase in killings and arson incidents in the vicinity of his hometown, Pampur. He was also the head of an Islamic trust that is responsible for the management of shrines and mosques in the area. Sheikh’s colleagues in the Kashmiri press called for a judicial inquiry into his murder. In a press release, CPJ condemned the slaying and endorsed calls by Kashmiri journalists for an official investigation into Sheikh’s killing.
May 17
Parag Kumar Das, Asomiya Pratidin, KILLED
Das, editor in chief of Asomiya Pratidin, the largest circulation daily in the northeast state of Assam, was fatally shot by unidentified gunmen in Guwahati, the state capital. Das was picking his son up from school when three men drove up in a car and opened fire on them. Das was hit at least eight times, and his 7-year-old son, Rohan, was shot in the right hand and injured. The gunmen fled the scene immediately after the shooting. A proponent of self-rule for Assam, Das had recently published an interview with the leader of the separatist group United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). Das’ colleagues suspect that his assassination was carried out by a splinter group of ULFA that had alleged ties to the previous administration in the state. Das was also general secretary of the Assamese human rights organization Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti (MASS) and publisher of its monthly newsletter, Voice of MASS. State police had arrested Das twice, in March 1992 and February 1993, under the National Security Law and the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act. The arrests were in connection with his human rights reporting and articles about ULFA. In December 1993, police also raided Das’ office and home, seizing copies of a book he had written about Assam and manuscripts of articles he had published in Boodhbar, the newspaper he was then editing. In a letter to Indian authorities, CPJ urged them to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into Das’ murder.
For more information contact asiaweb@cpj.org