New Delhi, Feb 16: The US-based organisation, Committee for Protection of Journalists (CPJ), has condemned the killing of Parvaz Sultan, an editor of a local news agency NAFA in Jammu and Kashmir, and requested for a "vigorous investigation" to nab his killers immediately.

In a letter to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, CPJ acting director Joel Simon said that the organisation condemns the murder of Sultan and urged the PM to "ensure that a vigorous investigation is undertaken so that sultan's killers may be brought to justice." CPJ, a non-partisan organisation of jounalists dedicated to scribes worldwide, said that Kashmiri journalists had expressed frustation that sultan's murder would remain unsolved as has been the case of other nine journalists killed during the turmoil period since early 1990s.
"All journalists are vulnerable when attacks against the press can be committed with impunity," the CPJ's letter to the Prime Minister said.

Sultan, 36, was shot dead on January 31 by militants at his office-cum-residence in heart of Srinagar city. Besides running NAFA, Sultan also worked by a noted local weekly "Chattan" and the oldest national Urdu daily "Quami Awaz".

The CPJ requested that the organisation could be kept updated about the status of the investigation into the murder of Sultan.

Bureau Report