Shopian school bus attack sparks uproar in Kashmir; separatists, pro-India leaders condemn incident

Shopian, Kashmir: The yellow school bus trudged slowly before talking a left turn, going down the sloping road which takes 32 children of Rainbow International School from a small village of Keller to Shopian town every day. But on Wednesday, 2 May, the volatile town in south Kashmir was observing a strike to protest security forces gunning down militant commander Sameer Bhat alias Tiger. The driver of the bus knew there was a risk of getting caught in an ugly situation. [caption id=“attachment_4454647” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Srinagar: An injured student being taken for treatment after stone pelters attacked a school bus in Shopian district of South Kashmir on Wednesday. PTI Photo (PTI5_2_2018_000110B) *** Local Caption ***[/caption] “When we reached the Zawoora crossing, I heard a thud, as if something hit the bus. I did not look right or left but drove faster. I knew something wrong had happened”, Bashir, a driver who works at Rainbow International School, told Firstpost. “At least six to seven boys, mostly teenagers, were moving around suspiciously in the area. One of them hurled a stone at the bus. It was around 9:15 am”. Rehan Gorsi, 10, was sitting on the left side of the bus when he was hit by a stone in the head. The Class 2 student had to be referred to Srinagar for specialised treatment. “He was sitting in the second row. Unfortunately, the windshield was not closed and the stone hit his head directly”, Sajad Ahmad Khan, the principal of Rainbow International School, which is located in the heart of Shopian town, told Firstpost. On Wednesday, the streets of Pulwama and Shopian were deserted. This correspondent travelled from Srinagar to Drabgam village, the home of Sameer Ahmad Bhat, alias Sameer Tiger, who was killed in an encounter two days ago. Only seven vehicles were spotted during the more than 40-kilometre journey. The roads were deserted and protesting crowds had to be cajoled to allow the car to move forward. When Sameer was killed, the Hurriyat Conference called for a day-long strike in the Valley. But the four districts of south Kashmir remained shut even on Wednesday. All shops, educational institutions and business establishments were shut. Hardly anyone was moving on the streets and after every 500 metres, young boys, particularly teenagers, blocked roads with stones and wooden logs. Stone pelting was also reported from many areas. When the bus reached Zawoora crossing, before it descended into town, it came under attack by a group of teenage boys waiting to strike. Hamid Hussain Shah, a doctor at the SMHS Hospital, said Rehan was stable but an X-ray showed he had a fractured skull because the stone apparently hit him directly. “He will be discharged soon. He hasn’t got any stitches but he has a fracture”, Shah added. Gorsi’s father Noor said he dropped his son to the school bus almost a half hour before the incident, but was worried, like every other day when the school is open during a Hurriyat-backed shutdown call. “Since 2014, I’ve preferred to keep my children at home on such days because the protesters control the roads”, he said. “But what can one do. You want to give best education to children. How long can you keep them indoors because every week there is strike call?” The incident sparked an uproar in the Valley. It was widely and unequivocally condemned by both pro-India politicians as well as separatists. “We must condemn all that is unacceptable in a civilised society. Targeting a school bus with stones is deeply distressing”, Facebook user M Gulzar said. “So is a hate crime in Kathua where a young boy was stabbed to death. Media should be fair. There is nothing like pro and anti in these senseless acts”. “Utter nonsense and madness. We are slowly bleeding ourselves to death”, Riyaz Ganai, a Kashmiri added on Facebook. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti tweeted:

Shocked & angered to hear of the attack on a school bus in Shopian. The perpetrators of this senseless & cowardly act will be brought to justice.

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) May 2, 2018

  The Opposition National Conference also condemned the attack. Separatist leaders including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Yasin Malik and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq also added their voices to the outrage. “Our strength lies in discipline”, Geelani said in a statement. “We should keep strict vigil over those involved in these incidents, saying in resistance movements we need to demonstrate our mature thinking and follow discipline”. As the news of the attack on school children dominated prime time news and debates, another teenager, Omar Ahmad, was killed and six others injured after locals clashed with security forces engaged in an encounter with militants in Shopian district and Pulwama. There were protests near an encounter site in Shopian’s Turkuwangam village from where militants managed to flee after locals pelted security forces with stones. “We have decided to keep the school closed today. We can no longer risk the safety of our kids. Although there is no strike call of the Hurriyat, these young boys pay no need to such calls anyway. In such anarchy, situation gets out of control”, Khan, the principal of the Rainbow International School, said.