Related News
Teachers stay home after two killed
Source: Agencies |
September 9, 2010, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
PANICKED teachers in Thailand's restive south stayed home from school yesterday after two teachers were killed in broad daylight amid threats from suspected Muslim insurgents that 20 would die.
The Narathiwat Teachers Federation called for more than 300 schools across the province to close yesterday for several days. It was not clear how many opted to shut. One district in the province said five out of 157 schools would close for the rest of the week.
Public school teachers are viewed by insurgents as government collaborators who impose Buddhist culture through the school system. They are targeted along with civil servants and officials in Thailand's three southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat - the only Muslim-majority areas in the Buddhist country.
On Tuesday, a husband and wife, both Buddhist and primary school teachers at a public school, were riding to a morning market on a motorcycle before school started when they were shot and killed in a barrage of bullets fired from a suspected insurgent on the back seat of a passing motorbike, police said.
Their deaths raised the toll of teachers and school workers killed by the violence to 135.
The violence that flared in 2004 has claimed more than 4,200 lives. Muslims and Buddhists have been targeted by the violence, but the latest backlash against teachers has been aimed at Buddhists.
The killings were foreshadowed by an ominous warning several days ago when anonymous fliers were distributed in Narathiwat villages that said: "WANTED: 20 Deaths of Buddhist teachers," said Sanguan Inrak, president of the teacher's federation.
"Teachers here are scared," said Sanguan.
The Narathiwat Teachers Federation called for more than 300 schools across the province to close yesterday for several days. It was not clear how many opted to shut. One district in the province said five out of 157 schools would close for the rest of the week.
Public school teachers are viewed by insurgents as government collaborators who impose Buddhist culture through the school system. They are targeted along with civil servants and officials in Thailand's three southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat - the only Muslim-majority areas in the Buddhist country.
On Tuesday, a husband and wife, both Buddhist and primary school teachers at a public school, were riding to a morning market on a motorcycle before school started when they were shot and killed in a barrage of bullets fired from a suspected insurgent on the back seat of a passing motorbike, police said.
Their deaths raised the toll of teachers and school workers killed by the violence to 135.
The violence that flared in 2004 has claimed more than 4,200 lives. Muslims and Buddhists have been targeted by the violence, but the latest backlash against teachers has been aimed at Buddhists.
The killings were foreshadowed by an ominous warning several days ago when anonymous fliers were distributed in Narathiwat villages that said: "WANTED: 20 Deaths of Buddhist teachers," said Sanguan Inrak, president of the teacher's federation.
"Teachers here are scared," said Sanguan.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
