The assassination of Shujaat Bukhari and the release of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights' report on Kashmir both happened on Thursday, and it was déjà vu: the 1990s all over again.

Shujaat was the editor of Rising Kashmir, an independent newspaper: he was a gentle soul, a gem of a person who threatened no one. He was an asset to his society. His killing makes no sense. He and his two guards were shot dead at Srinagar's Press Enclave. It was a targeted killing the likes of which we saw in the 1990s, of peacemakers like Mirwaiz Maulvi Farooq and Dr AA Guru. The entire Valley plunged into shock. It happened two days before Eid but Kashmiris have learnt to expect death around every corner. Shujaat leaves behind a widow and two children, a shell-shocked journalists' fraternity, and a homeland that sees no hope, only despair.