A change in government in Kashmir has prompted hope from Anglican leaders that past promises made by the state to rebuild a church school destroyed by a Muslim mob will be honored.
A change in government in India’s Jammu and Kashmir state has prompted hope from Anglican leaders that past promises made by the state to rebuild a church school destroyed by a Muslim mob will be honored. Speaking to the Times of India last week, the Bishop in Amritsar, the Most Rev .P K Samantaroy, said the accession to office of Mehbooba Mufti Sayeed, the first woman chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir and president of the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) might see the government honor its pledge to indemnify the church for its losses. On 13 Sept 2010 a Muslim mob destroyed the Tyndale Biscoe School in Tangmarg after hearing reports of a Koran burning in the United States. “We were given only Rs 1 crore as against the demand of Rs 8 crore by Tyndale Biscoe and Mallinson School Educational Society,” Bishop Samantaroy reported, and was hopeful the new government would protect Christian schools in the Kashmir valley and reimburse the church’s education trust for its losses.
