JK: Slain school principal Supinder Kour cremated amid protests

Supinder Kour’s family and friends staged a sit-in protest outside the Srinagar Civil Secretariat with the body and demanded that the killers be punished

The last rites of Supinder Kour – the slain principal of a government school in Eidgah locality of the city – were performed on Friday amid a protest by members of the Sikh community.

Hundreds of people turned up for the funeral procession of slain government school principal Supinder Kour, who was gunned down by militants, in Srinagar on Friday. (Waseem Andrabi/HT)

Militants had killed the principal, and another teacher, Deepak Chand, on the premises of the government school. Later, the The Resistance Front (TRF) has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Her family and friends staged a sit-in protest outside the Srinagar Civil Secretariat with the body and demanded that the killers be punished. Later, senior police officers persuaded them to end the sit-in protest. Kour’s body was later consigned to flames at the Cremation Centre in Karan Nagar.

Members of the Sikh community were carrying placards demanding justice.

Political leaders condemn killing

Several mainstream party leaders also visited Kour’s house to express their condolences, among them were PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah.

Calling the attack on civilians an attempt to divide the community, Omar said, “The attacks are taking place back-to-back and no one feels secure here today. The Muslims here have also been targeted, Kashmiri Pandits and Sikh brethren also. They do not feel safe.”

“There is an atmosphere of fear, everyone is thinking of leaving from here. It is our responsibility, especially of the majority community, to try to give a sense of security to our brothers and neighbours so that we will not see a repeat of the 1990s-like situation,” he said.

“The situation is worsening day by day and the BJP government is responsible for it. Its wrong steps and measures taken since August 5, 2019, (abrogation of Article 370) and before that as well, are directly responsible for the fast worsening situation in Kashmir,” Mehbooba said.

Policy failure to blame: PAGD 

Meanwhile, People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration spokesperson Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami said, “These killings have created a climate of fear that has not been seen in Kashmir since the early 90s. The current situation is the result of the failure of the policies of the government that have brought Jammu and Kashmir to this point. Be it demonetisation or scrapping of Article 370, these decisions were sold to the country as a solution to the problems of militancy and alienation in Kashmir.”

“ In fact, some recent decisions of the Jammu & Kashmir administration have only served to heighten differences between the communities that were otherwise were living peacefully,” he added.