School principal, teacher killed by militants in Srinagar, two days after three others were gunned down

Srinagar: Two government school teachers, including a woman, were shot dead by militants in Eidgah area of the city amid increasing attacks on civilians in Jammu and Kashmir, police said. The killing of the teachers, which drew widespread condemnation, took the number of civilians killed in the last five days in Kashmir valley to seven, including four from the minorities. “At about 11.15 am, terrorists shot dead two school teachers at Sangam Eidgah in Srinagar district,” a police official said. He said one of the two slain persons is a woman. The deceased have been identified as Supinder Kour, a resident of Alochi Bagh area of the city, and Deepak Chand, a resident of Jammu. They were working as teachers at Government Boys School, Sangam. The latest killing has taken the number of civilians shot dead in the valley to seven, including six in the city, over the past five days. On Saturday, militants shot dead Majid Ahmad Gojri, a resident of Chattabal Srinagar, at Karan Nagar. Later that night, another civilian Mohammad Shafi Dar, resident of Batamaloo, was shot at and injured at SD Colony Batamaloo. He succumbed to injuries a few hours later. On Tuesday, three civilians including Makhan Lal Bindroo, owner of Srinagar’s most famous pharmacy, were shot dead by militants within two hours in separate incidents in Srinagar and Bandipora districts of Jammu and Kashmir . Bindroo , owner of Bindroo Medicate, was shot dead by the assailants from point blank range while he was at his pharmacy. Within an hour, militants struck in Hawal area of the city, killing a non-local street vendor. The vendor, who used to sell bhelpuri, was shot at point blank range and died on the spot. The victim was identified as Virender. Within minutes of the second killing, militants shot dead Mohammad Shafi Lone at Naidkhai in Bandipora district in north Kashmir. Meanwhile, political parties have condemned the killing of the two teachers. “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,” National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah said on Twitter.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti said the Centre’s claims of building a ‘Naya Kashmir’ has actually turned it into a hellhole. “Disturbing to see the deteriorating situation in Kashmir where a minuscule minority is the latest target. GOI’s claims of building a Naya Kashmir has actually turned it into a hellhole. Its sole interest is to use Kashmir as a milch cow for its electoral interests,” she wrote on Twitter.

Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Lone said it is important to understand that terrorists have no religion. “Reports of cowardice emerging. Two teachers shot dead. It is important to understand that terrorists have no religion. Muslims have been killed too. I personally had a killing in my family. This is a lunatic fringe which is a curse for Kashmir. May Allah rid us of this curse,” Lone said in a tweet.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Jammu and Kashmir spokesman Altaf Thakur also condemned the killings, saying the killing of unarmed teachers, who have nothing to do with politics, is nothing but purely an inhuman act and frustration. Those who killed the two teachers have no religion. These teachers were teaching students, what was their fault, Thakur said. He said the cowardly act deserves the highest form of condemnation. Killing of unarmed civilians can never be justified as no religion allows to kill innocents, the BJP spokesman said, as he expressed sympathies with the families of the slain teachers. He urged police to arrest the group who are killing innocent civilians, including teachers, in Srinagar. The recent targeted killing of civilians, particularly members of the Kashmir Valley’s minority communities, by militants is aimed at creating an atmosphere of fear and damaging the age-old communal harmony, Jammu and Kashmir Police chief Dilbag Singh said on Thursday. “The incidents of targeting civilians in Kashmir since a few days are barbaric. Innocent people who are working for the society and have nothing to do with anyone are being targeted. This is an attempt to create an atmosphere of fear and to give it a communal colour so as to damage the communal harmony in Kashmir,” he said. The Director General of Police (DGP) was talking to reporters at the Government Boys Higher Secondary School at Sangam, Eidgah, where the two teachers were shot dead by militants earlier in the day. Singh said the people who are targeting humanity, brotherhood and the local ethos and values will be unmasked soon. “We regret the back-to-back attacks in which civilians have been killed. We are working on the previous cases and the Srinagar police has got many clues and we will soon get the people behind such terror and barbaric attacks…. I am sure the police will be able to unmask them soon,” he said. Asserting that the attacks were an attempt to defame the Muslim community of Kashmir, Singh said that the terrorists are “acting on the directions of Pakistan” to put hurdles in the way of peace in the valley. “This is an attempt to defame local Muslims of Kashmir. It is a conspiracy to target those who have come here for earning bread and butter. It is a conspiracy to damage the age-old tradition of communal harmony and brotherhood in Kashmir. Terrorists are terrorists and they are acting on the directions of the agencies across (the border) in Pakistan so that Kashmir is kept disturbed and hurdles are put in the way of peace in Kashmir. I am hopeful that people in Kashmir will not let this conspiracy succeed. We will work together and defeat their purpose,” he said. -- With inputs from PTI