Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday condemned the systematic targeting of members of the minority community in Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory (UT).
He appealed to both the Centre and UT administration to beef up security to instill confidence in the minorities to prevent another bout of migration from the valley.
Expressing shock at the gunning down of two teachers in Srinagar today, the SAD president said it was shocking that the two teachers – Satinder Kaur and Deepak Chand were segregated from members of the majority community after terrorists barged into their school and subsequently shot dead.
He said an attempt was being made to create a sense of fear amongst the minority communities besides encouraging communal strife in the valley.
Badal expressed his deep condolences with the family of Satinder Kaur, who was the principal of the Government Boys Senior Secondary School, Idgah and her colleague Deepak Chand.
The SAD chief said it was shocking that seven civilians had been killed in the last five days in Kashmir. He urged the centre and UT administration to plug loopholes and strengthen security arrangements in the valley to put an end to the killing spree.
“It seems members of the minority community, as well as outsiders, were being targeted as part of a new terrorist action plan. The UT administration needs to re-evaluate its security strategy immediately to meet this new challenge,” he said.
Badal also condemned the new onslaught on the Kashmiri Pandit community in Kashmir. He said the attack on leading businessman Makhan Lal Bindroo while he was dispensing medicine at his pharmacy was a cowardly act which had no place in a civilized society.
Terming Bindroo as an example of Kashmiriyat, Badal said such heinous acts were alien to the culture and ethos of Kashmir and had rightly been condemned by the civil society at large. He expressed his deep condolences with the Bindroo family and praised it for showing exemplary courage in the face of tragedy.
Badal said a SAD delegation would visit Srinagar shortly to meet members of the minority community who had been singled out for elimination as well as meet the Union Territory administration to request for increasing security cover for members of the minority community.