Protest march held in J&K amid attacks on civilians
SRINAGAR: Hundreds of Sikh community members in the Eidgah area of Srinagar on Friday held a protest march with the mortal remains of Government Boys Higher Secondary school principal Satinder Kour, who was shot dead, along with her colleague Deepak Chand, by terrorists a day ago.
People gathered at Kour’s residence in Aloochi Bagh area and took out a protest march, carrying her mortal remains on a stretcher. The march continued till Jehangir Chowk as protesters, both old and young alike, chanted slogans demanding justice for the victim. Sikhs currently form less than 1% of the population in Kashmir. The police tried to persuade the protesters to stop their march but in vain. The community members marched towards the Civil Secretariat, the seat of the Jammu and Kashmir government, and held a silent sit-in there.
“Our demand is to identify the killers and there should be adequate protection given to people belonging to the minority community. This isn’t the first incident where people from the minority community have been killed..,” Pardeep Singh, one of the protesters, said.
Later, the family of the deceased performed the final rites at a cremation ground in Karan Nagar area.
On Thursday, Kour and Chand, who was a teacher at the school, were shot dead at 11.15 am inside the premises by terrorists. The Resistance Front, which police say is the front for terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Two former chief ministers, Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, also visited Kour’s residence on Friday.
“The attacks are taking place back-to-back and no one feels secure here today. This is no time for politics... but it is the responsibility of the rulers to make people understand where the failure lies,” Abdullah said.
The mortal remains of Chand were consigned to flames at Shakti Nagar cremation ground.
“My husband was brave... even if he came across something disturbing, he would never share anything with us,” his wife Anuradha said.
Meanwhile, J&K Police said a total of 28 civilians have been killed by terrorists in the Valley this year. Of the total, at least seven of them have been killed since Tuesday, they added.
“Out of 28, five persons belong to Hindu/Sikh community and two non-local Hindu labourers,” inspector general (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar said in a statement.