In a shocking incident, unknown men pelted stones at a school bus in South Kashmir. Two children were injured and one critically this morning in Shopian. There were 50 students including 4 year old nursery students from a private school.
Among the injured, a second standard student suffered a head injury and is critical in a hospital in Srinagar. The other boy also had a minor injury and was discharged after treatment.
Police Officer Shailendra Kumar said, “The stone pelters hurled stones around 9:25 A.M.. The bus belongs to Rainbow International school.” The police are investigating the case and a search party is looking for the stone pelters.
There was immediate outrage from politicians like Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti. The CM tweeted, “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.”
The Education Minister Chowdhary Zulfikhar Ali also condemned the incident. The Leader of the National Conference Omar Abdullah tweeted, “How does pelting stones on school children or tourist buses help advance the agenda of these stone pelters?”
He further said, “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.”
The DGP of Police Sesh Paul Vaid also condemned the incident in a tweet.
Miscreants pelted stones on school bus of Rainbow School Shopian resulted in injuries to 2nd class student Rehan.He has been shifted to SKIMS for treatment with head injury. Complete madness how stone pelters are targeting young school children. These criminals will face the law.
— Shesh Paul Vaid (@spvaid) 2 May 2018
It is not clear if the school bus was the target of the pelters or was caught in a clash.
Early this year in Gurgaon a school bus was attacked by a mob protesting against the controversial film Padmaavat. The incident was horrifying with a video of the children cowering under the seats of the bus scared for their lives.
