- Sunday, November 24, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
TARGETED killings in India’s Kashmir Valley continued unabated as on Thursday (7), a non-Hindu principal and a teacher of a government school were gunned down by terrorists in Eidgah, Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. The attack came less than two days after three persons were shot dead inside an hour. Seven people have now been killed in terror attacks in Kashmir in a span of five days.
Police sources in Jammu and Kashmir said the terror outfit “The Resistance Front’ (TRF) is behind Thursday’s attack.
The slain principal was identified as Supunder Kour, a Sikh, while the teacher, Deepak Chand, was a Hindu.
“The pistol-wielding men came into the school this morning and asked for the identity cards of the teachers and later fired at two teachers, one each from the minority Sikh and Hindu community,” Reuters quoted a school teacher as saying.
“At about 11:15 am (India time), terrorists shot dead two school teachers at Sangam Eidgah in Srinagar district,” a police officer said.
He said the area has been cordoned off and a hunt has been launched for the attackers.
“TRF is run from Karachi. We will soon expose this nexus from across (the border). The victims were not affiliated with any group. It’s a malicious propaganda by TRF that Bindroo was working with the RSS,” Jammu and Kashmir police chief Dilbag Singh told news channel NDTV.
“We are concerned about every civilian life.”
He also said later that the killings were being orchestrated to create an atmosphere of fear.
“These recent incidents of targeting civilians are to create an atmosphere of fear, communal disharmony here. This is a conspiracy to target the local ethos and values and defame local Kashmiri Muslims. This is being done on instructions from agencies in Pakistan,” he said.
Makhan Lal Bindroo, a 70-year-old prominent businessman and owner of a pharmacy in Srinagar was shot at from point-blank range inside his store on Tuesday evening, the police said. He was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival.
Bindroo, who was a Kashmiri Pandit, stayed back in Kashmir and run his pharmacy even at the height of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir in the 1990s. Along with him, a street vendor and another civilian, the head of a local taxi stand, were also shot on the day.
Omar Abdullah, a leader of local political party National Conference and a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, condemned the killings.
“Shocking news coming in again from Srinagar. Another set of targeted killings, this time of two teachers in a government school in Idgah area of the city. Words of condemnation are not enough for this inhuman act of terror but I pray for the souls of the deceased to rest in peace,” he said in a tweet.
Shocking news coming in again from Srinagar. Another set of targeted killings, this time of two teachers in a Govt school in Idgah area of the city. Words of condemnation are not enough for this inhuman act of terror but I pray for the souls of the deceased to rest in peace.
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) October 7, 2021
His party said in a separate tweet, “Extremely distressing news coming in from a Govt school in Eidgah, Srinagar. Unreservedly condemn the dastardly & cowardly targeted killings of 2 school teachers. No words of condemnation would be enough. May they rest in peace. Our sincerest condolences go out to their families.”
Extremely distressing news coming in from a Govt school in Eidgah, Srinagar. Unreservedly condemn the dastardly & cowardly targeted killings of 2 school teachers. No words of condemnation would be enough. May they rest in peace. Our sincerest condolences go out to their families.
— JKNC (@JKNC_) October 7, 2021
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), another major political party in Kashmir, also condemned the incident tweeting, “Terrible news of killing of two teachers in Srinagar coming to fore. When will this dance of death come to an end. Will the administration stop trumpeting the hollow slogans of ‘Normalcy’ now. Deepest condolences with the families.”
Terrible news of killing of two teachers in Srinagar coming to fore. When will this dance of death come to an end. Will the administration stop trumpeting the hollow slogans of 'Normalcy' now. Deepest condolences with the families.
— J&K PDP (@jkpdp) October 7, 2021
The PDP, led by former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, is one of the most vocal critics of India’s Bharatiya Janata Party government’s decision to scrap the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019.
J&K lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha, a former minister in the Narendra Modi government in New Delhi, said a befitting reply will be given to those behind the attack. “A befitting reply will be given to perpetrators of the heinous terror attacks on innocent people. Terrorists and their patrons will not succeed in disturbing peace, progress and prosperity of J&K,” he said.
