Editor's Pick: Principal, teacher shot dead inside Srinagar school

The principal and a teacher of a government school in Srinagar were shot dead inside the premises on Thursday. The killing comes just two days after three civilians, including well-known Kashmiri Pandit chemist Makhan Lal Bindroo of Bindroo Medicare, were killed in the Kashmir Valley. The Resistant Force (TRF), a militant outfit, has claimed responsibility for the school attack. The police said militants barged into the Government Boys Higher Secondary School, Iddgah Sangam, in the old city and fired pointblank at the two, who died on the way to hospital. The victims were identified as principal Supinder Kour, 46, from Budgam’s Beerwah, and Kashmiri Pandit Deepak Chand, 36, who had migrated back to the Valley from Jammu. A teacher told The Hindu that they were sipping tea when they heard gunshots outside the principal’s room around 11.15 a.m. “We saw Chand falling outside the principal’s room,” the teacher said. Scores of teachers belonging to minority communities headed home early on Thursday, and many were accompanied by Muslim colleagues. “There is a deep sense of insecurity amongst minorities in the Valley at the moment,” said Mohit Bhat, a Kashmiri Pandit and Peoples Democratic Party leader. A spree of killings by militants has left seven civilians dead in six days in the Valley, spreading panic among the minorities and non-local workers, at a time when Union Ministers are on a nine-week outreach programme in Jammu & Kashmir. A TRF spokesman, in a statement issued online, said, “Shaheed Gazi Squad carried out the attack. These teachers had on August 15 harassed and warned parents with dire consequences if any student did not attend the August 15 function. We want to make it crystal clear that outsider domicile holders, stooges and collaborators, whatever their religion, won’t be spared.” Director General of Police Dilbag Singh said the police have got some clues and leads and would nab “the killers very soon.” The deteriorating situation in the Kashmir Valley and the targeting of minorities, two years after its special status was withdrawn in August, 2019 and the State was carved up into two Union Territories, make it an important story of the day. The Hindu's Editorials Killing the chills: On the malaria vaccine Handling complexity: On 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. Click here Try out The Hindu's daily news quiz The World Health Organization has endorsed the world's first vaccine for which mosquito-borne disease? 1. Dengue 2. Malaria 3. Chikungunya 4. Zika To find out the answer and play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 08 OCTOBER 2021 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( Principal, teacher shot dead inside Srinagar school [Principal, teacher shot dead inside Srinagar school] The [principal and a teacher of a government school in Srinagar]( were shot dead inside the premises on Thursday. The killing comes just two days after [three civilians]( including well-known Kashmiri Pandit chemist Makhan Lal Bindroo of Bindroo Medicare, were killed in the Kashmir Valley. The Resistant Force (TRF), a militant outfit, has claimed responsibility for the school attack. The police said militants barged into the Government Boys Higher Secondary School, Iddgah Sangam, in the old city and fired pointblank at the two, who died on the way to hospital. The victims were identified as principal Supinder Kour, 46, from Budgam’s Beerwah, and Kashmiri Pandit Deepak Chand, 36, who had migrated back to the Valley from Jammu. A teacher told The Hindu that they were sipping tea when they heard gunshots outside the principal’s room around 11.15 a.m. “We saw Chand falling outside the principal’s room,” the teacher said. Scores of teachers belonging to minority communities headed home early on Thursday, and many were accompanied by Muslim colleagues. “There is a deep sense of insecurity amongst minorities in the Valley at the moment,” said Mohit Bhat, a Kashmiri Pandit and Peoples Democratic Party leader. A spree of killings by militants has left seven civilians dead in six days in the Valley, spreading panic among the minorities and non-local workers, at a time when Union Ministers are on a nine-week outreach programme in Jammu & Kashmir.  A TRF spokesman, in a statement issued online, said, “Shaheed Gazi Squad carried out the attack. These teachers had on August 15 harassed and warned parents with dire consequences if any student did not attend the August 15 function. We want to make it crystal clear that outsider domicile holders, stooges and collaborators, whatever their religion, won’t be spared.” Director General of Police Dilbag Singh said the police have got some clues and leads and would nab “the killers very soon.” The deteriorating situation in the Kashmir Valley and the targeting of minorities, two years after its [special status was withdrawn]( August, 2019 and the State was carved up into two Union Territories, make it an important story of the day. The Hindu's Editorials [Arrow][Killing the chills: On the malaria vaccine]( [Arrow][Handling complexity: On 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics]( [underlineimg] Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. [Click here]( Try out The Hindu's daily news quiz The World Health Organization has endorsed the world's first vaccine for which mosquito-borne disease? 1. Dengue 2. Malaria 3. Chikungunya 4. Zika To find out the answer and play the full quiz, [click here](. Today's Best Reads [[The Congress is at the crossroads] The Congress is at the crossroads]( [[Will a bad bank fix India’s broken banking system?] Will a bad bank fix India’s broken banking system?]( [[Lakhimpur Kheri violence | Supreme Court tells U.P. to file status report in 24 hours] Lakhimpur Kheri violence | Supreme Court tells U.P. to file status report in 24 hours]( [[Intolerance and vandalism in Afghanistan of worldwide concern: India] Intolerance and vandalism in Afghanistan of worldwide concern: India]( Copyright @ 2021, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. If you are facing any trouble in viewing this newsletter, please [try here]( If you do not wish to receive such emails [go here](