Early Times Report
Jammu, May 14: More than 27 years after a respected school principal was brutally murdered for refusing to compromise his principles, Government Boys Higher Secondary School, Gandhi Nagar, was on Thursday officially renamed in his honour.
In an emotional ceremony attended by family members, teachers, students, and public representatives, Education Minister Sakina Itoo inaugurated the renamed institution, which will now be known as Kuldeep Kumar Badyal Memorial Government Boys Higher Secondary School, Gandhi Nagar. The decision is a long-awaited tribute to the late principal, Kuldeep Kumar Badyal, who was killed on February 3, 1999, after he refused to issue a forged document related to a student’s practical examination. Badyal was known as a disciplined and principled educator who believed that honesty in education was non-negotiable.
On that fateful day, a student, angered by the principal’s refusal to falsify official records, attacked him inside the school premises with a butcher’s cleaver, known as a toka in Dogri. Gravely injured, Badyal was rushed to the hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
His killing sent shockwaves across Jammu and remains one of the most tragic incidents in the region’s educational history.
The accused, Harjeet Singh, was later arrested near the Nepal border and subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment.
The renaming fulfilled a commitment made last year by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who had unveiled a statue of Badyal on the school campus and announced that the institution would bear his name.
Speaking at Thursday’s ceremony, Itoo described the occasion as both emotional and historic.
“I am happy that the school has been named after a principal who laid down his life while “On that fateful day, a student, angered by the principal’s refusal to falsify official records, attacked him inside the school premises with a butcher’s cleaver, known as a toka in Dogri. Gravely injured, Badyal was rushed to the hospital, where doctors declared him dead.”
The minister also acknowledged the role of Farooq Abdullah, who had first proposed that the school be renamed in Badyal’s honour.
In one of the most poignant moments of the event, Itoo spoke about her own experience of losing her father to terror violence.
“I can understand the pain of a family that loses its father to a senseless act of violence. I, too, lost my father when I was still a student. That pain never goes away, but today is also a proud day for the Badyal family,” she said.
Her remarks moved many in the audience, underscoring the enduring grief carried by families who lose loved ones to violence.
Among those present was Choudhary Vikram Randhawa, who recalled the day of the murder with visible emotion.
“My father, late Choudhary Pyara Singh, was the MLA from this area at the time. We were among the first to reach the school after the attack. By then, Badyal had already been taken to hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries,” he said.
Randhawa said the crime had left a deep scar on the community and argued that the perpetrator deserved capital punishment rather than life imprisonment.
For students walking through the school gates now, the name of Kuldeep Kumar Badyal will serve as a permanent reminder that integrity sometimes demands the highest sacrifice.
Teachers who knew him remember not just a principal, but a mentor who believed that education was rooted in truth, discipline and character.
With his name now etched on the school he once led, Badyal’s story will continue to inspire generations of students to stand by what is right, no matter the cost. |
