Kashmir crisis: School bus with 35 kids stoned; Shiv Sena demands Prez rule

At least four civilians were injured, one of them critically, in clashes with the security forces near a gunfight site in Shopian district

Two children were injured on Wednesday when a group of miscreants attacked a school bus, carrying 35 students, with stones in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district, police said. A class 2 student suffered a head injury when the school bus carrying him was attacked by stone pelters in militant-infested Zawoora village of South Kashmir on Wednesday morning, triggering angry reactions from Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and other political leaders.

"The injured children were shifted to a hospital where doctors referred one of them to Srinagar for specialised treatment," the official said, according to news agency IANS.

Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant on Wednesday demanded imposition of the President's rule in Jammu and Kashmir, claiming a "miserable failure" of law and order in the state, where a school bus was attacked by stone pelters in militant-affected Shopian district. The Sena's ally BJP is the junior partner in the PDP- led government in the border state.

The Congress termed the situation as "very serious" where stones were pelted at a school bus and demanded Home Minister Rajnath Singh make a statement on the overall scenario in the state.

The police has taken cognisance of the incident and a hunt for the miscreants is underway.

Police said a private bus of Rainbow International School at Narapora area of Shopian was attacked by stone pelters in Zavooora area, injuring the student identified as Rehan Gorsai. The injured child was referred to Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital (SMHS) Hospital where doctors attending on him stated his condition to be stable.

In a separate incident, at least four civilians were injured, one of them critically, in clashes with the security forces near a gunfight site.

The clashes erupted after security forces laid a cordon around Turkawangam village following information about the presence of a group of militants there, but came under fire from the hiding militants sparking off a gunfight, police said.

"At this, youth resorted to heavy stone pelting on the security forces to break the cordon. Tear smoke shells and pellets were used to quell the protests," a police officer said.

Doctors in Shopian district hospital said four civilians had reported with injuries at the hospital.

"Three injured persons had gunshot injuries. One of them identified as Inayat has sustained critical injuries," said a doctor.

In more violence on Wednesday in Shopian, the house of a ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) MLA was attacked with a petrol bomb.

Here are the top 10 developments around the violence in Kashmir:

1. Shiv Sena MP demands President's rule in J&K: Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant today demanded imposition of the President's rule in Jammu and Kashmir, claiming a "miserable failure" of law and order in the state, where a school bus was attacked by stone pelters in militant-affected Shopian district.

"There is no law and order left in Jammu and Kashmir. If stones can be pelted on students, who is safe there? The government there has miserably failed on all fronts, including law and order," Sawant said, according to news agency PTI.

"Imposing the President's rule is not the solution. However, at least there will be some law and order in the state when there is none," he added.

2.  Congress asks Rajnath Singh to make statement on J&K situation: Congress leader Rajiv Shukla said the "experiment" of the BJP tying up with the PDP to form a government in the politically-sensitive state had "completely failed" and the situation there had "deteriorated".

"I think the situation in Kashmir is very-very serious...Now there is a massive law and order problem there and the school buses are being targeted. So this is a very serious situation," Shukla said, reported PTI.

"I think the government should immediately come out with a statement. The Home Minister should come out with a statement. They should explain to the nation as to why this is the situation in J&K," he added.

Shukla claimed when the Congress was ruling the state with the National Conference there was a big tourist inflow and business volume had gone up.

3. 1 killed, 4 injured in clashes with security forces in J-K: One person was killed and four others were injured during clashes with security forces who were engaged in an encounter with militants in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir, a police official said today.

The security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Turkwangam village of Shopian following information about the presence of militants there, the official said.

He said a gunfight broke out between the ultras and the security forces, which was going on when the reports last came in.

 

2-3 terrorists reportedly trapped near Army patrolling party at Tourkewangam in Shopian where an encounter is underway between security forces and terrorists. Photo: ANI

4. Youngsters pelt stones at security forces: A group of youngsters assembled near the encounter site in Shopian and started pelting stones at the security forces, the official said.

He said five people were injured when the security forces opened fire to chase away the stone pelters.

One of the injured, 17-year-old Umar Kumhar, later succumbed to injuries, he added.

Locals, however, claimed that more than a dozen youngsters were injured in the security forces action.

5. Situation in Kashmir all-time worst since 1947, says JKPCC chief: Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief Gulam Ahmed Mir on Wednesday condemned the attack on a school bus by stone-pelters in Shopian district, saying the situation in the Valley is at an "all-time worst since 1947".

The situation in Kashmir is all time worst as this government and the Centre was not able to tackle it rightly. Militancy was there for the past three decades but the previous governments managed to deliver, run the schools, carried forward the developmental work, Mir told reporters at the party headquarters in Jammu.

Besides the bloodshed, the democracy has also suffered under this government. The by-elections were cancelled one day before polling (Lok Sabha polls in Anantnag parliamentary constituency in south Kashmir last year). The government first announced holding of Panchayat and local bodies elections, then decided against it, he said.

Mir blames PDP-BJP coalition: Mir alleged that the PDP-BJP coalition has wasted the previous three years.

They are cutting ribbons of the projects which were started by the previous UPA government like national highway, construction of tunnels and hospitals and had not come out with a single project till date. They have only made promises and shown dreams to the public, he said.

6. Two kids wounded after stones thrown at Kashmir school bus: At least two children were injured when a school bus carrying 35 students came under attack from a stone-pelting mob in a south Kashmir village on Wednesday, police said.

The incident took place in Zawoora village in the volatile south Kashmir district of Shopian.

"The injured children were shifted to a hospital where doctors referred one of them to Srinagar for specialised treatment," an official said.

7. Father of the wounded child called incident 'against humanity': The father of the class 2 student, whose son got injured, termed the incident as "against humanity", adding that the same could have happened to anyone's child.

8. Driver of the bus tried best to save students: The bus was carrying close to 35 students. The driver of the school bus said: “I sped up the bus as soon as I realised stones were being pelted at the bus. I tried my best to save the students but one student got injured,” according to ANI.

9. Strict security in the area: Shailendra Kumar, the senior superintendent of police (SSP), Shopian said that five miscreants surrounded the sound bus and hurled stoned at, thereby, injuring one student. "The area has been sanitised, search for stone pelters is underway and they will be arrested soon," added Kumar.



10. Mehbooba Mufti vows to punish those guilty: The incident evoked sharp reaction from Jammu and Kashmir 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.

11. Omar Abdullah condemns attack: Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah condemned the attack on the school bus. "How does pelting stones on school children or tourist buses help advance the agenda of these stone pelters? These attacks deserve our unequivocal condemnation & this tweet is mine," Omar wrote on his Twitter handle.

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 spokesman 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.