SRINAGAR: On the day of Diwali , when the rest of India rejoiced amidst festive lights, two more schools were torched by unknown masked men in south Kashmir.In all, 27 schools have been gutted, 15 of them partially , in the past three months in the strife-torn Valley . No group has claimed responsibility for these acts and police have not been able to establish the identity of the arsonists yet.With increasing number of schools being burnt in the Valley triggering an outrage, the J&K high court on Monday stepped in, directing the police and civil administration to ensure their protection besides unmasking the “mysterious enemies of education“ and deal with them with an “iron hand“.The Government Higher Secondary School in the Kabamarg area in Anantnag district was set on fire on Sunday afternoon. On Satur day night, Jawahar Navodya Vidyalaya in Aishmuqam in the same district was set ablaze, said deputy commissioner Syed Abid Rashid According to state education officials, more than 5,000 students in these 27 schools will suffer due to these incidents of arson. In several schools, student records have also been charred, officials said. The schools have been shut as per Hurriyat diktats.According to education minister Naeem Akhtar, there are over 35,000 schools, including private ones, in Kashmir.The incidents have started a war of words between Kashmiri leaders. On Sunday, Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front ( JKLF ) leader Yasin Malik alleged that CM Mehbooba Mufti and Akhtar want to re-open schools by hook or crook to show that all is well and have resorted to direct confrontation with the students. “We believe the duo is responsible for burning of schools by provoking the students,“ he said at a press conference, thereby, hinting that angry students are resorting to arson.On Monday , Akhtar countered Malik's allegation saying that at many places students have been at the forefront of saving the schools and it is out of question that they would take such reprehensible steps. “We are only trying to safeguard the career of lakhs of students, whereas separatists with their shutdown calls are trying to destroy their academic care er,“ he said.Akhtar also said that by conducting the examinations, the government is not trying to invent or impose anything new in the academic arena of the state. “In reality it is the examination time of leaders like Mohammad Yasin Malik who is now facing questions from the people over the way they are pushing Kashmiris into perpetual economic and academic disempowerment,“ he said.“The government tried to open schools and even a delegation from civil society led by Yashwant Sinha went to meet them (separatists) and requested them...for help to let the schools open. The reply came in the form of burning of two schools,“ Mufti said at a police function in Udhampur in Jammu.A trade organisation has indirectly blamed “Indian intelligence agencies“ for the acts. Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA) chairman Yasin Khan said not only schools but even shops have been set on fire. “The pattern of these mysterious incidents suggests a conspiracy to deprive Kashmir of its educational and economic resources,“ he said.