Protests in Jammu over civilian killings by militants
Jammu: Several organisations staged protest in Jammu on Thursday over the targeted killing of civilians, particularly minorities, by militants in Kashmir.
A woman principal and a teacher were shot dead at point blank range inside a government school in the heart of Srinagar on Thursday, taking to seven the number of civilians killed by militants in Kashmir Valley in five days.
Of the seven, four were from minority communities and six of the deaths took place in Srinagar.
Raising slogans against Pakistan, activists of the Panun Kashmir took out a protest rally in the Durganagar area of Jammu.
They set fire to an effigy of Pakistan, and also slammed the government for its failure to protect minorities in Kashmir.
A Panun Kashmir leader said the spake of killings is an eye-opener for the central and union territory governments.
Activists of the Shiv Sena and the Dogra Front also took out a protest rally.
“The government must deal with terrorists, their supporters within Kashmir with an iron hand before dealing with Pakistan. Justice should be delivered,” Shiv Sena leader Ashok Gupta said.
The Rastriya Bajrang Dal and the VHP also protested the civilian killings.
Several organisations representing the Kashmiri Pandit community held protests too.
Makhan Lal Bindroo, a prominent Kashmiri Pandit and owner of Srinagar’s most famous pharmacy, was shot dead at his shop on Tuesday evening. Minutes later, a chaat’ vendor, Virendra Paswan from Bihar, was gunned elsewhere in the city. Almost simultaneously, another civilian, Mohammad Shafi Lone, was killed at Naidkhai in Bandipora.
Three days before that, militants shot dead Majid Ahmad Gojri, at Srinagar’s Karan Nagar locality. Later that Saturday night, they gunned down Mohammad Shafi Dar at Batmaloo.
Press Trust of India
