Militants continue to target civilians, shoot dead two teachers in Kashmir

Targeted killing of civilians continued unabated in the Kashmir Valley, with militants shooting dead a Principal and a teacher at a school in the Eidgah locality of Srinagar today.

The deceased were identified as Supinder Kour, a resident of Alochi Bagh area of Srinagar, and Deepak Chand from Jammu. They were working as teachers at the Government Boys School, Sangam. They were rushed to the SKIMS Hospital, but were declared dead on arrival.

According to a local news agency, the two were gunned down at the school. “At about 11.15 a.m., terrorists shot dead two school teachers at Sangam Eidgah in Srinagar district,” a police official said.

With today’s killing, seven civilians have been shot dead in the valley in the last five days. On October 2, militants gunned down Majid Ahmad Gojri, a resident of Chattabal, Srinagar, at Karan Nagar. Later that night, Mohammad Shafi Dar, another civilian and a resident of Batamaloo, was shot at SD Colony, Batamaloo.

On October 5, terrorists shot dead three civilians in the Kashmir Valley in back-to-back incidents. Makhan Lal Bindroo, owner of Bindroo Medicate, was shot at his pharmacy near Iqbal Park in Srinagar while Virender Paswan, a hawker, was killed in the Lal Bazar area of Srinagar. Paswan hailed from Bhagalpur, Bihar. The third civilian, Muhammad Shafi Lone, was killed at Shahgund, Bandipora. He was the president of the local taxi stand there.

Given that most of the targeted persons were Hindus, there is a sense of fear in the minority community. Mohit Bhan, a spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), tweeted: “Deep sense of insecurity amongst the minorty in valley at the moment. Received frantic calls, fear in the voice sent shivers down my spine. Go out stand with them they need you more than ever today. The callousness of administration for pushing us back to 90s can’t be ignored.”

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah and the PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti condemned the attacks. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha tweeted: “I strongly condemn the barbaric killing of two of our teachers, Supinder Kour and Deepak Chand by terrorists. A befitting reply will be given to the perpetrators of the heinous terror attacks on innocent people. The terrorists & their patrons will not succeed in disturbing peace, progress & prosperity of J&K UT. My deepest condolences to the bereaved family, friends and colleagues.”

Omar Abdullah posted on Twitter: “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.”