Who Is Rajni Bala? Teacher Shot Dead By Terrorists In Jammu And Kashmir's Kulgam

Rajni Bala, a 36-year-old Kashmiri Pandit teacher was shot and killed by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district. The killing of the teacher has sparked a wave of outrage amongst the people living in the valley region; the Kashmiri pandit community in the region staged a protest against the killing and demanded protection for themselves.

Bala was shot dead by terrorists on May 31 as she was walking toward the school. Reports stated that she succumbed to her injuries at a hospital.

The Kashmiri Pandit community living in the valley were resenting and angered by the targeted killing of the Hindu teacher and also said that the government has “failed to protect them” against such heinous crimes. Political leaders Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti slammed Union Government while condoling Bala’s death.

Native of Samba but posted in a government school at Kulgam, Bala’s death is the second killing of a Hindu employee in the district and the seventh targeted killing by terrorists in Kashmir in the month of May. Earlier in the month, a clerk Rahul Bhat was killed and a week ago, terrorists killed a social media influencer Ambreen Bhat a day after a policeman was killed.

Suggested Reading: J&K Television Actor Ambreen Bhat Shot Dead: All About The Incident

Who Is Rajni Bala?

Bala was a Hindu school teacher who belonged to Samba district but was posted in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district at a government school there. She is survived by her husband Raj Kumar and their teenage daughter. Reportedly, her husband is also a government teacher from Samba.

According to a report in the DNA, May 31 was supposed to be her last day at the school where she was shot by the terrorists in a targeted attack. She and her husband had been transferred to another school on Monday, May 30.

The couple--Bala and her husband--have been living in Kulgam for the past 14 years; they were living in fear of targeted killings and had been requesting a transfer to another district.

Speaking to reporters, Kumar expressed that had the administration transferred her to a safer place earlier, "she might have been alive by now". While Bala's father-in-law lamented the lack of security for the Kashmiri Pandits in the region. "She could have been saved if Kashmiri Pandits had any security here. She called everyone their friend," he said to reporters.