Kashmir: Woman sarpanch injured in attack by militants

Militants shot at and critically wounded a woman sarpanch in Hardshiva village near Sopore town in north Kashmir's Baramulla district on Saturday evening.
 
This is the second attack in the past two days on elected village representatives in the Sopore area.
 
A sarpanch, the elected head of the village body, was gunned down by militants on Friday in Bomai village, which is close to Hardshiva.
 
A senior police officer said militants fired at Zoona Begum from a close range, injuring her critically.
 
Zoona was immediately shifted to the Sopore sub-district hospital where the attending doctors referred her to Srinagar for specialised treatment.
 
The sarpanches and panches have been receiving threats from the militants to resign or face consequences for a long time.
 
The threats forced scores of sarpanches and panches to announce their resignations through paid advertisements in local newspapers.
 
Authorities admit that  it is difficult to provide individual security to the thousands of elected sarpanches and panches across Kashmir.

Image: Zoona Begum | Photograph: Anil Raina