Jammu, June 15: An organisation of Kashmiri Pandits today announced that it would mark June 15 as 'Teacher Martyrs Day' to pay homage to educationists killed by militants in Jammu and Kashmir. "From today, June 15 will be marked as 'J&K Teacher Martyrs Day' every year to remember those professors, principals, lecturers and teachers, who were targetted by militants during last 13 years," All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference (ASKPC) general secretary H L Chatta told a function here.

"On this day in 1997, pro-Pakistan Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists had shot dead a principal, Ashok Raina, and three other teachers in Udhampur," he said.

Chatta recalled that militants had killed 203 educationists in the state in the last 13 years, including a vice-chancellor of Kashmir University, seven professors, five principals and 23 lecturers.
Bureau Report