Outrage as woman Hindu teacher shot dead in Kulgam
Protests erupt in Valley, Jammu; Rajni Bala’s husband Raj Kumar says he had requested the chief education officer for a transfer four times
SRINAGAR: A woman schoolteacher from Jammu was shot dead on campus at Gopalpora in Kashmir’s Kulgam district, the latest in a series of targeted attacks on migrant workers and Hindus in the Union Territory.
The terror killing triggered renewed protests by migrant Kashmiri Pandit employees, who have been agitating for relocation since last month’s killing of Rahul Bhat, a government employee posted at Chadoora in Budgam.
The slain teacher, Rajni Bala, 36, was a Hindu from Samba in Jammu, police said, promising swift retaliation against the terrorists involved in the attack.
“She was just entering the school premises, which is in an orchard area, when she was attacked by terrorists,” Kulgam police said. The number of terrorists involved in the attack was not clear, officials said.
Bala taught at the Gopalpora school after she was recruited in 2011 under the Scheduled Caste quota. “She is survived by her husband and a school going daughter,” an official said, seeking anonymity. Her husband Raj Kumar works in nearby Mirhama in Kulgam as a teacher.
The attack spread panic and gloom among Bala’s colleagues and students, some of whom fainted on hearing about her death.
It was the latest in a series of targeted attacks in Kashmir this year. As many as 13 people have been killed and 10 injured in the attacks by suspected militants in the past five months. The slain include four security personnel, three Hindus, and six local Muslims — panchs, sarpanchs and a TV artiste.
The killing of Bala comes five days after the murder of Amreen Bhat, a 35-year-old artiste at her home in Budgam on Wednesday last week. Her 10-year-old nephew was wounded in the attack.
SAMBA/SRINAGAR: Rajni Bala’s family on Tuesday barely had any time to register the shock of her death.
As the body of the 36-year-old teacher arrived at her in-laws’ house in Nankechak village in Supwal area of Samba district, an increased sense of fear over the growing attacks on civilians prevailed among local residents.
“We are at wit’s end... I don’t know what happened to us. We are in a state of shock. Just two months back, she had come home and told us that they lived in an atmosphere of fear because of the increased attacks on nonMuslims,” Bala’s brother-in-law Surinder Kumar said.
Bala, who was posted at a government school in Gopalpora area of Kulgam district, was shot by terrorists on Tuesday, the latest in a series of targeted attacks on migrant workers and Hindus in the Union territory. It was the latest in a series of targeted attacks in Kashmir this year.
“My bhabhi, my brother and their little daughter lived together… what more could be shameful for the government and where is the government? There is no guarantee to life in Kashmir. A common man is getting killed every day and the government only does lip service. Do minorities have a right to life in Kashmir?” Kumar said.
As many as 13 people have been killed and 10 injured in the attacks by suspected terrorists in the past five months.
The slain include four security personnel, three Hindus, and six local Muslims — panchs, sarpanchs and a TV artiste.
Bala’s husband, Raj Kumar, said he had requested the chief education officer (CEO) for a transfer on four occasions.
“I had requested the CEO to transfer her to a safer school on the grounds that the school is located at a remote place. Yesterday too we visited the education director’s office and submitted an application, requesting them to post us in one school,” Raj Kumar, who is also a government school teacher, said.
“Though the order was issued last evening, had they (authorities) heard us on time, it (killing) would not have happened,” he added.
The inconsolable mother-inlaw of the slain teacher raised concerns over the deceased’s daughter.
“She has left behind a little daughter, who will look after her,” she said.
As news of Bala’s death spread, several Kashmiri Pandits staged protests across Srinagar’s Batwara and Indra Nagar areas as well as at Vessu in Anantnag district.
To be sure, Bala was not a Kashmiri Pandit and was recruited under the SC/ST quota of Kulgam district.
Protesters in Srinagar raised slogans against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre and Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha.
“Today, a sister was killed on school premises. These targeted killings are continuing and we are so disturbed. We are tired of requesting the administration for our relocation,” Amit Koul, a protester, said.
“From Baramulla to Anantnag transit camps, we have decided that if the government does not take a decision within 24 hours, we will migrate from the Valley and there will be mass migration,” he added.
Bala’s killing came just three days after we requested LG Sinha to relocate us, Koul said.
“We had requested them to relocate us for two to three years till things normalised here but today, there was another killing,” he said. Earlier in the day, Sinha had assured “unforgettable action” against those found guilty in the case.
“We have been suffering for the past 14 years. Nobody is listening to our demands...We have been recruited under the PM package but actually the government has sacrificed us. They have left us to die here,” a second protester in Srinagar said, seeking anonymity.