Indian security forces blinding Kashmiris by firing pellets

ISLAMABAD: Undeterred by Indian statements where the Modi government appears to be unnerved by Pakistan which is on a diplomatic offensive to bring to world capitals the ongoing atrocities in Indian-Held Kashmir (IHK), the Foreign Office on Friday stressed the harsh reality that so far there have been 70 reported cases of Kashmiris who have been hit by pellet guns and are now visually impaired.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has addressed letters to the UN secretary-general, the president of the UN Security Council, the secretary-general of the OIC, and the UN high commissioner for human rights to express Pakistan’s serious concern on the alarming situation in the IHK drawing attention to the brutal killings of innocent civilians and grave violations of the fundamental human rights of the Kashmiris by the occupying Indian security forces.

In his letter to the high commissioner for human rights, according to his office, the adviser noted that the Indian security forces were trampling the fundamental freedoms of the Kashmiri people with complete impunity. Jammu and Kashmir was witnessing yet another brutal bloodbath at the hands of the Indian occupation forces.

“The use of excessive force against innocent civilians protesting peacefully over extrajudicial killings was a blatant violation of the right to life, right to freedom of expression and opinion, right to peaceful protest, right to peaceful assembly and other rights,” Aziz noted.

Earlier, the ambassadors of African and Middle Eastern countries were briefed in the Foreign Office on Friday over the tense situation in the Occupied Kashmir.

“The envoys were informed that due to the use of lethal force by Indian forces, more than 40 civilians have lost their lives whereas 2,000 have been injured, 400 in critical condition. As a result of the use of pellet guns, more than 70 people are now visually impaired. These concerns have been widely shared by the international community and human rights activists including Indian based groups,” spokesman at the Foreign Office noted.

In retaliation, spokesman at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that while hoping that Pakistan would respond constructively to India’s initiatives for peace and normalising bilateral relations, "India asks Pakistan to desist from interfering in its internal affairs and destabilising the situation in South Asia by supporting terrorism and other subversive acts. India is dismayed at continued attempts by Pakistan to interfere in its internal matters where Pakistan or anyother external party has no locus standi."

It is not only the Foreign Office here but even the independent Indian media which was recently criticised by Prime Minister Modi for its reporting on Kashmir. The prestigious ‘The Hindu’ notes editorially that Indian security forces have been firing pellets from 12-bore guns when these are not long-distance weapons.

“Police around the world have been trained to aim for below the knee. The idea is that the pain caused by the pellets, usually made of metal and sometimes encased in rubber, acts as a deterrent without maiming or causing serious life-inhibiting injuries. Theoretically, it sounds viable. The reality that’s obtained in Kashmir this month tells another story. It speaks to a lack of both training and leadership. In the heat of the moment, there was a clear lack of restraint, evident in the numbers injured by the spray of pellets. Even as the best medical care is now sought to be provided, a more holistic healing must be expeditiously administered. It has to be a political exercise,” it notes.

The News columnist Mosharraf Zaidi tweeted,  “India: shocked by words of Pakistanis, not by the bullets massacring young Kashmiris whose land they occupy?” Even the New York Times in a news report pointed to these lethal pellets which are blinding the Kashmiri youth.

It noted that “patients, some with severe eye trauma, have overrun hospitals in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir, doctors said on Wednesday, after security forces used pellet guns to break up demonstrations that have shaken the region.

“Hospitals have been overwhelmed with people seeking treatment for eye injuries, and the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti, has asked the health minister in New Delhi to send a team of specialists to Kashmir.”

Omar Abdullah has asked Modi, says the NYT, to send a team of eye surgeons and eye trauma experts to Kashmir. One shell from a pellet gun the police have been using has hundreds of small metallic pieces that fan out in a six-foot circle, S.N. Shrivastava, the special director general of the Central Reserve Police Force in Srinagar, told NYT.