Skinder Gull
Shakir left his home early morning on Tuesday to buy bread watching the picturesque beauty around him, tall mountains, a few steps ahead, a typical Kashmir morning, welcomed him, as the sound of bullets rang somewhere nearby.
In the morning, Shakir Ahmed Pandit, gone to buy bread, returned home in the evening to be carried in by few others with his eyes bandaged, he might not be able to regain sight. Showering pellets on Kashmiri protestors have consumed many lives, blinded many more and left thousands slowly losing their vision. On Tuesday morning, the pellets have shattered hopes of a 19-year-old boy from Karimabad locality of Pulwama.
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The Kashmir valley marred by violence since decades has seen thousands of young women and men blinded by pellets. Many International Human rights organizations have called for a complete ban on their usage, however, the unabated usage of pellet guns continues in Kashmir.
In its report titled LOSING SIGHT IN KASHMIR: THE IMPACT OF PELLET-FIRING SHOTGUNS, The Amnesty International noted, “People injured by pellet-firing shotguns have faced serious physical and mental health issues, including symptoms of psychological trauma. School and university students who were hit in the eyes said that they continue to have learning difficulties. Several victims who were the primary breadwinners for their families fear they will not be able to work any longer. Many have not regained their eyesight despite repeated surgeries.”
Shattered Dreams
Here in his bed, visited by dozens of people, Shakir making a desperate attempt to remove the bandage that covers his eyes now, hears his father, Muhstaq Ahmed and asks him, “Papa, my eyes paining, can we remove the bandage from my eyes?”
Mushtaq Ahmed, a labourer, lives here in one of the most volatile localities of Pulwama District in South Kashmir. His son, Shakir left home in the morning, not knowing that he would come back with pellets hitting him. “His friends told me that he had been hit with pellets near the encounter site in Gusoo, Pulwama.
As Shakir did not have the strength to speak, his friend Rasik (name changed) narrated what happened. He said that the 21-year-old was barely 50 metres from an armoured vehicle n Gusoo when security personnel fired a pellet shot from it. “He fell on his knees before he got up and ran into the alley blood oozing from his eyes,” said Rasik.
Pellet shotguns were introduced in Kashmir in the summer of 2010 during the peak of the mass uprising as a ‘non-lethal’ weapon of crowd control. However, there have been many instances when civilians have been shot dead in targeted attacks using pellet guns.
The summer of 2016 saw widespread use of pellet guns by police and paramilitary forces during months-long the mass protests and curfew following the killing of popular militant commander Burhan Wani. The use of pellets left thousands injured and hundreds blind.
“He was a hope, he recently opened a shop and contributed to the house income, I am the sole- bread earner to the family now,” Mushtaq, father of Shakir told The Kashmiriyat. The dreams of the entire family are shattered, ‘We expected him our support in the old age, but they (forces) have snatched my dream away.”
Shakir was injured during clashes near the gunfight site in Gusoo area of Pulwama in South Kashmir, where an encounter had erupted between Joint Forces including the Indian Army, Jammu Kashmir Police and CRPF.
During the encounter, several people hit the streets raining stones upon Government Forces. The forces retaliated by firing tear smoke shells and pellets, Many people were hit with pellets which included Shakir.
From here, Shakir was referred to SMHS hospital in Srinagar for advanced treatment. “The doctors there told us, that Shakir has to be back in a couple of days for a check-up,” his father said.
The unabated Use of Pellet Guns
The rampant use of pellet guns has destroyed the lives of several thousand people, including children in Kashmir. Though the Indian Government consider it as a “Non-lethal” weapon.
According to the reports of the Association of Parents of Disappeared People (APDP), 15000 people were injured during the Burhan unrest &among 4,500 were due to pellet-firing shotguns,” the report states.
“More than 352 civilians were partially or completely blinded by pellet-firing shotguns. The figures for pellet-injured victims continue to be revised upwards as many do not report their injuries.”
The report states that Most of pellet victims’ age is between 13 to 23 years. The report also noted that a majority of the pellet victims belong to impoverished or economically marginalized families, 21-year- Shakir is among such victims.