Five-Year-Old Youngest of 92 Injured by Metal Pellets in Kashmir

These guns spare nobody. The youngest victim is a five-year-old who thinks a firecracker hurt her.

“They deliberately fired at our houses,” says a 9-year-old patient’s mother Shameema. (Photo: Pradeepika Saraswat)

Three days after Hizbul commander Burhan Wani was killed, hospitals in Kashmir reported 77 cases of eye injuries. On day four, the number of eye injury cases climbed to 92, reports The Indian Express.

The injured were protesters agitating over the death of Wani, who is considered to be a youth icon in the Valley.

Three men have lost their vision owing to the injuries caused by pellet firing by security forces. A nine-year-old girl named Saniya Ashiq may lose partial vision, according to Kaiser Ahmad, head of the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) hospital.

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People attend funeral procession of militant Burhan Wani at his village in Tral of Jammu and Kashmir`s Pulwama district on 9 July 2016. (Photo: IANS)

Age No Bar

We received 77 eye injury patients till Monday morning. At least 64 surgeries have been done so far. Three youths have completely lost their vision and many others might also lose it. 

Kaiser Ahmad, Head of Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital

On Monday, The Quint reported on 12-year-old Tamanna from Tulmula village who was hit by a pellet through her kitchen window.

On Tuesday, The Indian Express reported a case of 5-year-old Zohra who thought “firecrackers” hurt her.

Touseef, 12, who was hit with pellets during clashes at his native town Anantnag, in restive South Kashmir can barely speak.

Non-Lethal Weapons

The government of Jammu and Kashmir has declared pellet guns “non-lethal” and uses them to disperse mobs.

The hospital receives a new admission every 30 minutes. Many of the injuries are fatal as most of the bullets have hit either the head or the chest. 

SMHS Hospital Doctor

Non-lethal weapons also include teargas, pepper gas, rubber bullets, and pellet bombs, etc which have been used to curb violent, anti-India protests in Kashmir, The Quint reported in December 2015.

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As Opposition leader in 2014, PDP President and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, had walked out of the state assembly to protest against the CM Omar Abdullah’s government for sanctioning the use of “non-lethal” weapons.

She has made no major attempt to curb the use of these non-lethal weapons, which was reportedly her electoral promise.

(With inputs form The Indian Express and IANS)

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