Police in Kashmir on Tuesday claimed to have arrested a dozen miscreants allegedly involved in burning down school buildings in south Kashmir as a massive manhunt has been launched to track down more. The provincial head of bureaucracy also issued directions to the district authorities to take effective measures to safeguard the school buildings across the Valley.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police for south Kashmir range, Nitish Kumar said that around 35 people have been identified for their involvement in burning down school buildings.
“We have arrested 12 people from Kulgam district while 23 others are absconding,” Nitish said. “Police are on job to nab the arsonists. They will be behind the bars within next few days. Within next fifteen days, all faces will be unveiled,” he said. On Monday, the State High Court pulled up the authorities for their failure to ensure safety of school buildings. During the past four months of unrest in Kashmir that triggered after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8, around 27 educational institutes have been mysteriously set ablaze by unknown arsonists. Most of the schools, both from the public and private sector, have suffered extensive damage.
The separatists and the State Government have blamed each other for the sordid State of affairs. The incidents of burning schools have taken place amid a raging controversy on re-opening of educational institutions shut for the past four months due to ongoing separatist-sponsored strike.
On Monday, the State High Court asked the Government to take firm measures to safeguard the schools. In response to the directions, the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Baseer Ahmad Khan convened a high level meeting to adopt the measures to prevent school buildings from fire incidents, besides to ensure smooth conduct of examinations.
The district level officers were asked to prepare comprehensive plans in the categories of normal, sensitive and hypersensitive areas so that the Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch (HRW) referred to the burning of school buildings in Kashmir and stressed that “attacks on education” in Jammu & Kashmir need to stop immediately.
“Both India and Pakistan should show their commitment to ensuring all students can learn in peace by endorsing the Safe Schools Declaration, an international political commitment that outlines common-sense steps that Governments can take to better protect students and schools in such tense situations. Kashmir should be putting out school graduates, not school fires,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia Director of Human Rights Watch in a statement.
“Anti-Government protests and the Government’s heavy-handed response have created an atmosphere of turmoil,” the HRW added. “These schools, most of them Government-run institutions, were attacked in the middle of the night by so-called ‘miscreants’,” the statement said, “no one has claimed responsibility. Everyone blames each other. The High Court has called upon the authorities to “stop the enemies of education.”
“These attacks on education in Jammu & Kashmir need to stop immediately. The burning of schools, assaults on teachers and students, the occupation of schools by the police and military, and the recruitment of children to become fighters violate the rights of children or thwart their chances to get an education,” the statement said.