Shadow Correspondent
SRINAGAR, MAY 02:
A class 2 students suffered a head injury when the school bus carrying him was attacked by stone pelters in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday morning, triggering angry reactions from the state chief minister and political leaders. Police said the bus of a private school was attacked by stone pelters in Zavooora area in militant-infested Shopian district of South Kashmir, injuring the student identified as Rehan Gorsai. The injured child was referred to a hospital where doctors attending on him
School bus. . . . .
stated his condition to be stable.
The bus was carrying close to 35 students.
The incident evoked sharp reaction from state Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who said perpetrators of this senseless and cowardly act will be brought to justice soon.
“Shocked and angered to hear of the attack on a school bus in Shopian. The perpetrators of this senseless and cowardly act will be brought to justice,” she tweeted.
Former chief minister Omar Abdullah condemned the attack on the school bus.
Concerned over the incident of stone pelting on a school bus in Shopian, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah today said that the amnesty granted to stone pelters was to encourage “reasonable behaviour”.
He added that some “goons” were determined to use the amnesty as an opportunity to pelt more stones.
“The amnesty granted to stone-pelters was meant to encourage more reasonable behaviour but some of these goons are determined to use the opportunity given to them to just pelt more stones,” Omar said in a tweet.
Condemning the incident, Director General of Police S P Vaid said, “Complete madness how stone pelters are targeting young school children. These criminals will face the law.”
National Conference spokesperson Junaid Mattu also condemned the incident and took a dig at separatists, saying “One would expect (Syed Ali Shah) Geelani and Mirwaiz (Umer Farooq) to take a conscientious call and condemn stone pelting while reserving the right to espouse their political ideologies through non-violence. You can’t claim the moral high ground while refusing to condemn this unequivocally.”
Minister for School Education, Haj & Auqaf and Tribal Affairs, Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali, has strongly condemned stone pelting on school bus at Kanipora village in Shopian.
Terming the incident as horrific, the Minister assured the student community that the government would take every possible step to ensure their safety and security.
