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Over 80% Pellet Victims in Kashmir Have Lost Vision: Study

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 05:50:41 +0000

File Photo.

Srinagar: Most of the victims of pellet-gun injuries have lost vision in either one or both the eyes despite treatment, a recent study has found, with the vision amongst them limited to only counting fingers.

The study, published by the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology, to “examine the incidence, clinical findings and management of pellet gun–related ocular injuries” during this time has found that the final “best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) after treatment was counting fingers or worse in 82.4% of the eyes.

The authors of the report, the main one being Dr S Natarajan, a prominent retina surgeon from Mumbai, have strongly advised against the use of pellet guns against civilians to avoid ophthalmic trauma.

“The poor visual outcomes, high costs of medical care, and long-term visual rehabilitation process in these young working-age patient impose a significant physical, emotional, and socio-economic burden to both individuals and the society,” it concluded.

The victims in the recent study were mostly young males with bilateral eye injuries. The study mentioned that a surgical intervention was often necessary and despite the expeditious treatment, “visual outcomes remained poor.”

The report, which was approved by Srinagar’s Sri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital’s Institutional Review Board was carried out in accordance with the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki, a set of ethical principles published by the World Medical Association to guide the protection of human participants in medical research.

This study is based on records from 777 victims who were diagnosed with pellet gun–related ocular injuries between July and November 2016, a time when Kashmir witnessed a massive surge in violence in the aftermath of killing of militant commander Burhan Wani on July 8, 2016.

“In terms of laterality, 94.3% and 5.7% of the patients sustained monocular and binocular injuries, respectively. In terms of the nature of injury, 76.3% of the eyes had open globe injury while 23.7% of the eyes had closed eye injury,” the study said.

The study further said that the emergency surgical exploration was performed in 67.7% of closed globe injuries while emergency primary repair was done in 91.1% of open globe injuries.

“The vast majority of patients (98.7%) who required surgery underwent surgical intervention on the day of admission or the next day,” it mentioned.

Pellet guns were introduced around 2010 as non-lethal means to quell protests in Kashmir against traditional ballistic-based weapons. Since then, thousands of mostly youth have been shot by the pellet guns and many have died, reportedly, after being shot from close range. The authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have come under serious criticism, especially from international rights bodies for using pellets after hundreds lost their eyesight in at least one or both eyes. The victims included children as young as 18-months-old.

A pellet victim from South Kashmir, who has completely lost vision in one of the eyes, told NewsClick that the problems for victims like him have compounded since. There is compassion in the beginning but later the victims not only lose vision but their family, friends and relatives, too.

“Then there is harassment from the authorities which never ends despite being a victim of their violence – it is perpetuated relentlessly. Even if that stops, it would be a relief,” the victim said, wishing anonymity due to fear of reprisal from authorities.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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For Hiba, 18 months old pellet victim of Kashmir

Thu, 28 Nov 2019 05:09:34 +0000

She cries in pain,
Mother, hold me tight,
I feel cold.
Mother tells her,
It is not cold,
It is the icicles making you chill.
She laments,
Mother, hold me tight.
It is darker than the night around,
Mother tells her,
It is not the night that is dark.
It is the burnt coal surrounding the village.
She whispers,
Mother, hold me tight
I feel thirsty in tidal waves,
Mother tells her,
It is not the jhelum that is aroar,
It is the gush of the verinag that is sore
She screams,
Mother, hold me tight,
I can’t breathe,
Mother tells her,
It is not the air that has become dusty,
It is the boots of a man throttling your throat.
She sighs,
Mother, hold me tight,
I can’t move,
Mother tells her,
It is not the thunder stopping you,
It is the trigger killing you.
Mother, hold me tight,
I can’t see you,
Mother tells her,
Stay calm my child until I pick pellets from your eyes.
Mother sobs and screams.
Hiba holds mother tight and sings a lullaby.

Nayeema Ahmad Mahjoor is associated with Independent Urdu and author of “Lost in Terror”

Courtesy: https://countercurrents.org/

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Their Journey of Friendship Began in Hospital, Faces Pierced by Pellets

Thu, 10 Jan 2019 05:33:13 +0000

The three teenage Kashmiri girls, who are disabled now, were hit with pellets on October 31, 2016 – the 115th day of curfew in Kashmir after the killing of Hizbul Mujahedeen’s commander Burhan Wani.

Shabroza Akhtar,Ifrah Shakoor,Shabroza Mir

When the first time the three teenage girls met, they had bandages wrapped all over their faces and eyes. Their friendship started from ward number 7 of Sheri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital (SMHS).

All of them were hit with pellets on October 31, 2016 – the 115th day of continuous day and night curfew in Kashmir that had started after the killing of Hizbul Mujahedeen’s commander Burhan Wani on July 9, 2016. At around 1:30 pm, a troop of Indian Army’s Rashtriya Rifles (RR) 53 battalion posted in Rohmoo, a village in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district, were patrolling in the area. A few soldiers reportedly asked the boys who were sitting near a gate to remove the posters paying tributes to Wani from the walls and the electric poles. When the boys resisted, the army men started allegedly thrashing them. People came out of their houses to rescue the kids, and in response, the army fired pellets and bullets at them, which led to clashes in the area, according to the locals.

The clashes reportedly intensified after many youngsters were hit with pellets.

Shabroza Mir, then a 16-year old girl, was alone in her house, as her family was visiting her sister-in-law. Youngest among the five siblings, Shabroza quickly locked the doors and windows of her house when she heard the sounds of tear gas canisters and firing outside. “I was feeling suffocated due to the pepper, chilli and tear gas, so I decided to go to my uncle’s home, which is behind our house,” she recalls.

Shabroza Mir

After stepping out, she moved really fast. However, when she was about to turn at the corner, she found some of the officers of the Special Operations Group (SOG) of J&K police running towards her house, perhaps chasing the stone-pelters.

“So, I sat near the corner of my house, I turned my head back to check whether they have left yet or not. But before I could realise what was happening, one of the men in uniform fired pellets directly at my face,” says Shabroza. She was then taken to the sub-district hospital from where she was referred to SMHS.

Ifrah Shakoor, then a 14-year-old girl, was sitting inside her home which is a few metres away from Shabroza’s house. When the clashes intensified, her mother Fareeda Bano asked her to look for her younger brother Rayees who is now 10 years old, as he was playing outside with other kids.

When she went out to check on her brother, and opened the gate, within no time, a cop allegedly fired directly at her face. It was a cartridge of pellets. “The cops saw me in a girl’s dress. They fired at me anyway. They grabbed me by my hair, and beat me black and blue. A few guys managed to rescue me, but only after they too were hit with pellets,” alleges Ifrah.

Like Shabroza, locals took her too to the sub-district hospital of Pulwama by the locals. She was referred to SMHS, was coincidentally assigned a bed to the left of Shabroza.

Both their houses are located in Karl-e-Baal (mountain of potters). Following the clashes, people from the region were aware of the situation, and many of them decided to assemble at one place for safety.

From the other side of Baal, a group of SOG and RR soldiers was reportedly heading towards the spot where clashes were taking place. They saw the group of people standing in the courtyard, and allegedly shot pellets at them. To see what was happening, then 16 years old Shabroza Akhtar looked back, but even before she could figure out what had happened, her face and eyes were riddled with several pellets. She was admitted in the same ward, with her bed on the right side of Shabroza Mir.

Shabroza Akhtar

Living in the same village, but strangers to each other, all the three girls were operated on the same day, and were introduced to each other by their parents. “I heard my mother talking to Ifrah’s mother. She told me that they are from our village itself. So, we started talking to each other,” says Mir.

Ifrah was a class VIII student, and was preparing for her exams, but couldn’t appear owing to her injuries.

Mir and Akhtar were studying in the same school, both were in class X, but in different sections. “We had seen each other on occasion, but we had never spoken,” said Mir.

For three days, all of them were talking to each other, without being able to see. They narrated how they were fired at, and were trying to relax with each other.

After three days, when the bandage was removed from their eyes, both Shabroza Mir and Ifrah were not able to see from either of their eyes. Ifrah had pellets in both her eyes, while Shabroza Mir had been hit with a pellet in her left eye, and her right eye was hit by an empty cartridge, making her vision blurry. Shabroza Akhtar had lost 75 per cent visibility in her left eye.

On realising that they had been blinded or partially blinded, they cried. The other patients from the whole ward and their relatives tried to console them, but the fact was that there was no cure, and their world was going to be deprived of light .

“There is no possibility of eye transplant either because all of us had major injuries in the retina,” says Shabroza Mir.

After seven days in the hospital, the three girls were discharged from the hospital, and were asked to visit again after seven days for another surgery, as pellets were still in their eyes.

On November 14, an ambulance was waiting for the girls to leave for SMHS (during those days only ambulances and armed vehicles were allowed to move). Onboarding, the girls decided to sit next to each other, and started talking about the severe effects of anaesthesia injection which they felt was a qahar (disaster).

“We weren’t able to talk freely, as our parents were sitting next to us, so we decided to talk our hearts out when we reach the operation theatre,” recollects Shabroza Mir.

After crossing many police checkpoints, they reached the hospital, and joined the queue where other pellet victims were waiting for their turn.

Girls were busy cracking jokes about the announcer who would call out names really loud, which seemed to annoy all the patients. They were getting nervous as they were getting closer to their turn, no one was expecting to be first.

Finally, the announcer called out the name, “Shabroza Akhtar”, and she went inside. Her screams could be heard from the theatre as she was given an injection in her eye, remember Mir and Ifrah.

Ifrah Shakoor

After Akhtar, it was Ifrah’s turn, but little Ifrah didn’t scream, which relieved Mir a bit, and another surgery was carried out. Mir’s right eye was recovering, but she had lost the vision of her left eye. Ifrah had only 20 per cent visibility in her left eye, and is completely blind from her right eye. Shabroza Akhtar had 35 per cent visibility in her left eye, while the right eye is unaffected.

Spending seven more days in ward no. 7, they got a chance to strengthen their bond. “We would discuss what happened, and would wonder if someone would marry us in future,” said Shabroza Mir.

They were discharged, but were given different dates for their third surgery, which upset them.

On reaching their villages, they said their goodbyes, but with a promise to stay in touch. They started meeting once a week. They had to drop their education due to their disability, but they tried to help each other to get over the trauma, however, with little help from society.

Mir says, “Once my mother had an argument with a neighbour, who made fun of me because of my eye.”

Once a badminton champion, Shabroza Mir is now asking her family to shift her to her maternal home, as people always remind her of, and tease her about her disability.

“I don’t reply to any taunts, I have left everything up to my Allah (God). He will help me to survive,” says Mir.

Courtesy: Newsclick.in

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Pellet guns return to Kashmir, baby girl shot in the eyes

Mon, 26 Nov 2018 09:42:37 +0000

She might be the youngest victim of pellet gun firing in the valley. The number of disabilities in the valley rose by 74% under the BJP-PDP rule.

Image Courtesy: Indian Express

Shopian: 20-month-old baby Hiba Nisar had just woken up to the sound of gunfire when security forces fired pellet guns at her family at their home in Kaprin – Batgund area of Shopian district in Jammu & Kashmir. A pellet hit her right eye. She underwent an immediate surgery but the doctors fear that she may lose her eyesight.

“Clashes broke out between civilians and security personnel in Shopian following an early morning encounter on Sunday. According to reports, a civilian was killed and over 50 people were injured in the protests that led to Hiba’s injury,” a report said.

Hiba’s mother Masarat Jan, also called Marsala Jan in other news reports, said that she was with her two children when pellet guns were fired at her. “Masarat said due to continuous teargas shelling, smoke started filling their house and Hiba refused to eat anything, coughing aggressively. “I couldn’t tolerate my daughter choking and nauseating with tear-smoke and decided to take her and my five-year-old son away from the house, somewhere where they could breathe better,” recalled Masarat, as tears rolled down her eyes. “As soon as I opened the door of my house, I saw a pellet gun aimed at us while youth were rushing away from the spot. I pushed my son to a side and shielded my daughter’s face with my hand,” Masarat said. “Three pellets hit my hand suddenly, but one hit my daughter in her eye,” she said in a report by Greater Kashmir.

“Hiba was brought to the hospital by her neighbours when Masarat fell unconscious after seeing blood oozing from her daughter’s eye. “I wish the pellet in her eye had hit me,” Masarat cried loudly, alongside her husband Nazir Ahmed, who was away for work when the tragedy befell the family,” the report said.

“She has a corneal perforation and its prognosis is not very good,” said the doctor, who had operated upon her at the trauma theatre. He explained that a pellet has made a hole right in the middle of her eyeball, causing bleeding in the eye and damaging its parts that are vital for vision,” Indian Express reported.

It was also noted that Hiba might be the youngest victim of pellet gun firing in the valley.

Insha Mushtaq was hit by pellets on the evening of July 11, 2016, when she opened a window to look outside her home in Sedow village of south Kashmir’s Shopian district. She lost her eyesight and was lauded when she completed her 10th class exams in January.

Most of this year’s military operations have taken place in Shopian.

74% rise in disability during BJP-PDP rule
In three years to 2017–when the coalition government of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in power in Jammu & Kashmir–31,085 people were certified as disabled in the 10 districts in Kashmir valley, up 74% from 17,898 people in the three preceding years, data obtained through right to information requests show.

In six years to 2017, Kupwara district registered the most people with disabilities (10,825), followed by Anantnag (8,638), Baramulla (7,274) and Pulwama (5,461).

As of 2014, more than 100,000 disabilities were due to conflict, according to a November 2015 study published in the Journal of Business Management and Social Sciences Research (JBM & SSR). Post 2016, the use of pellet guns has increased the number of disabilities, according to Srinagar-based human rights activist Khurram Parvez.

Since 2016, 1,314 eyes of 1,253 people were impaired after being hit by pellets, and the chances of recovery are poor, Greater Kashmir, a local daily, reported on April 8, 2018. Blindness accounted for 68.9% of disabilities in the state compared to 44.5% nationwide, according to the JBM & SSR study quoted above.

Amnesty International India called for a ‘complete ban’ on the use of pellet guns in Kashmir in their report titled “Losing Sight in Kashmir: The Impact of Pellet-Firing Shotguns” which was released in 2017. The report depicts the plight of 88 victims of pellet guns in Kashmir whose eyesight was damaged in one or both eyes by metal pellets fired from pump-action shotguns used by the Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) between the year 2014 and 2017.

The report says pellet-firing shotguns, which have been responsible for blinding, killing and traumatizing hundreds of people in Kashmir, “must be immediately banned.” The pump-action shotguns, as per the report, have been used by forces in Jammu and Kashmir since at least 2010. The report says the use of shotguns in Kashmir has “blinded hundreds and killed at least 14 people since July 2016.

The report had also noted that many school and university students who had been hit in the eyes continue to have learning difficulties.

More than 200 people hit by pellets fired by security forces during street protests in 2016 lost their vision either permanently or partially.

The unrest began on July 8, 2016, when Hizbul commander Burhan Wani was killed by the security forces in Anantnag district.

28-year-old Mohammed Ashraf Wani, a resident of Rahmoo village in Pulwama district of North Kashmir registered a not for profit trust “Pellet Victims Welfare Trust” in 2016 in Srinagar which has approximately 1,250 pellet and bullet victims as its members.

“Most of their families had to sell their land, houses and in some cases even jewellery to fund the treatment of pellet injuries. Now they are almost bankrupt with no money left for the continuous treatment,” he said.

He further said that the government has left them at the mercy of God after crippling them.

Union Ministry procured more pellet guns
The Union Home Ministry’s authorised Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to procure additional 5000 pellet guns with six lakh cartridges in 2017, to be used on Kashmiri protesters.

“I don’t think the weaponisation can control the situation in Kashmir, it will only aggravate it,” human rights defender and coordinator of Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, Khurram Parvez, told Firstpost.

According to a report, after the Home Ministry’s authorisation for 4,949 pellet guns for CRPF, their total number will rise to 5,589 which will be powered by 6 lakh cartridges. Every CRPF company will be equipped with nine pellet guns.

“I don’t understand the logic behind the idea of increasing the number of pellet guns in Kashmir when the use of this so-called non-lethal weapon has already backfired. Is India preparing to blind another generation of Kashmiris?” a political science professor at Kashmir University, who wished not to be named, told Firstpost.

“The Government of India should shun the policy of meeting Kashmiri protestors with weapons. It is a failed policy. It seems that the policy corridors in Delhi are facing intellectual bankruptcy when it comes to think about Kashmir,” the professor said.

“The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir has banned the use of pellet guns in Valley last year. But both the Union and State Government dishonored the Court decision and went ahead with the use of pellets on protesters during the 2016 anti-India protests in Valley. According to the protocol, the pellet guns or any other crowd control weapons should be aimed at the legs of the protesters to make them less lethal. However, the number of injuries caused by pellets last year in Kashmir only suggest that they were aimed above the waist height, to damage vital parts of the body including head,” the report said.

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NHRC directs centre to pay Rs. 3 lakh to pellet gun victim

Mon, 16 Jul 2018 08:05:34 +0000

The incident took place on November 7, 2014, when the student was standing near his residence in Hatkhola village. A pellet hit his right eye while BSF personnel were firing at fleeing smugglers.

West Bengal: A Class XII student, Mohammad Ali Halsana, was caught between the Border Security Force and fleeing smugglers in his village in West Bengal’s Nadia district when his right eye was hit by a jawan’s pellet gun. His family had to mortgage their lands to afford his medication and the family of six had come under duress. It is said that the BSF threatened witnesses with more pellet gun firing if they revealed what had happened.

Now, The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed the Centre to pay compensation of Rs. 3 lakh to Halsana. The NHRC’s decision came on a complaint filed by Kirity Roy, secretary of human rights organisation Banglar Manab- Adhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM).

“The Commission recommends to the Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, to make a payment of Rs. 3,00,000 as compensation to the victim, Mohammad Ali Halsana,” The NHRC report said.

“The incident took place on November 7, 2014, when the student was standing near his residence in Hatkhola village. A pellet hit his right eye while BSF personnel were firing at fleeing smugglers. In February 2016, the NHRC summoned the Director General of Police to submit a status report of the FIR lodged against the concerned jawan Naseb Chand, of 119 Battalion of Mahakhola Border Outpost, in the Chapra police station,” reported The Hindu.

A 2015 complaint filed by Kirity Roy with NHRC tells the story in more detail. “It is revealed during the fact-finding that on 7.11.2014 at about 10.30 in the morning; Mohammad Ali Halsana came out of his residence for the purpose of going to market. At that standing in front of the gate of his residence, he saw that The Border Security Force personnel by a Zypsy Car were chasing cattle smugglers. Then suddenly one of the BSF personnel started firing from his service rifle. In such firing the victim, Mr. Mohammad Ali Halsana was shot and he fell down on the ground sustaining bullet injury on his right eye. His mother Ms. Lutfa Halsana rushed to the spot. The BSF personnel ran towards the victim and attempted to assault with a wooden stick. But due to protest by the local people and Ms. Lutfa Halsana, the BSF personnel did not assault. The BSF personnel left the place issuing threats that the villagers would be gunned down if the incident was reported to anyone. The victim was immediately evacuated to nearest Chapra Block Primary Health Centre (BPHC) but due to his serious physical condition, he was referred to Shaktinagar Hospital. As the victim sustained bullet injury on his right eye, his family members admitted him at Sankara Nethralaya (An eye hospital) in Kolkata. About Rs.7, 50,000/- was incurred in the medical treatment of the victim and his family arranged the said money by mortgaging lands. At present the victim is staying in his residence under medical care,” the complaint said.

After about one and a half year of the summons, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (headquarters) of Nadia filed a report to the NHRC stating that the chargesheet had been submitted in the case under Sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons) of the Indian Penal Code.

“Having considered the report, the commission, came to the conclusion that the human rights of the victim were violated by the BSF person, for which the Government of India is vicariously liable and should make reparations to the victim,” the NHRC stated.

“Soon after, the commission issued a show cause notice asking the Secretary to the Ministry of Home Affairs as to why a compensation of Rs. 3 lakh should not be awarded to the victim. In response, the Under Secretary to the Home Ministry forwarded a report of the Deputy Inspector General (Operations) of BSF, who argued that as per Section 19 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, the NHRC “has no power” to issue show cause notice in relation to matter of the armed forces,” reported The Hindu.

“However, it is prima facie found from the charge sheet that the BSF person is liable for the grievous injury caused on the right eye of the victim, violating his human rights, for which the Government of India is vicariously liable and should make reparations to the victim,” stated the NHRC order.

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How Ashraf Wani, a pellet victim, is trying to help more than 1,000 fellow pellet victims get treatment

Sat, 24 Mar 2018 05:37:24 +0000

Srinagar: No matter how hard you try to live a normal life in Kashmir, the truth is that in this conflict-ridden Valley, a moment can completely change the course of your life; often for the worst. Take the example of 28-year-old Mohammed Ashraf Wani, a resident of Rahmoo village in Pulwama district of North Kashmir.

Before August 24, 2016, it would have been nigh impossible to find him at home during the day as he was dividing his time between studying and working at Airtel. When not studying for his graduation, Ashraf worked with the telecom major as a field officer, recovering outstanding bills from customers. But after the encounter of Burhan Wani, the region was united in protests, and Ashraf was no different.

“That day people were protesting at Prichoo, Pulwama and I was also a part of it. We were peacefully registering our protest and I had even asked a police offer to let us do peaceful protest but he didn’t allow it. Soon, the arguments lead to stone pelting between protesters and security forces,” recalls Ashraf.
Ashraf tried to move to a corner in order to look for a safe corner. But one of the officers from a CRPF vehicle started firing at the protesters, leading to the death of two people and six people injured. Ashraf was one of the injured that day, and like thousands of others in Kashmir, his life has never been the same again.

“I was hit by a bullet in the back which pierced my liver, touched one of my lungs and came out through the chest,” he said. And yet, Ashraf, who was on a ventilator for the next six days, was discharged two weeks laterand advised to rest for three to four months.

On October 31, 2016, when he was still recuperating from the bullet wounds, the village witnessed another round of protest early morning. Ashraf still carried bullet wounds and did not want to be found out by the security forces. So, he tried to move to a nearby hill- Lidergan, surrounded by a dozen houses, hoping it would be safe there. As he climbed the hill, security forces, who were chasing other youths, also climbed the hill and fired pellets indiscriminately, along with tear gas shells on people.

Mohammad Ashraf Wani shows his right eye which was hit by pellets

Finding it difficult to move, he tried to hide behind a tree, but a policeman aimed his pellet gun at him and fired, leaving Ashraf in a pool of blood.

Even after six surgeries, pellets remain all over his body and Ashraf, a budding student and an employed person, was left to recover from bullet and pellet injuries.

A year and a half after the fateful day with his hair closely trimmed and his black beard cropped short, he is still recovering from his wounds with fortnightly visits to the doctors in Srinagar. But that does not deter him from thinking about the concerns and welfare of other such victims who suffer like him and who are enduring what he has gone through.

“I have gone through this pain and only I can understand the pain of those who were crippled by the pellets and bullets,” he said.

Nine months back while lying down on a mattress, wearing dark glasses at his single-storey mud house in the corner of a field, hiding behind a tin gate at Rahmoo village, Ashraf met few pellet victims from his area who shared how living a normal life has become a burden for all of us.

“Most of their families had to sell their land, houses and in some cases even jewellery to fund the treatment of pellet injuries. Now they are almost bankrupt with no money left for the continuous treatment,” he said
He further said that the government has left them at the mercy of God after crippling them.

“The government says that they have given us the jobs but we haven’t taken any jobs. They have given jobs to 13 pellet victims, most of whom are their party workers,” he said.

In May 2016, Ashraf finally registered a not for profit trust “Pellet Victims Welfare Trust” in Srinagar which has approximately 1,250 pellet and bullet victims as its members.

“Many NGOs and individual groups collect donations on our behalf, but nothing concrete is done for us due to non-streamlining of the funds,” Wani said.

Last month on Feb 19, Wani along with the members of the Trust- mostly the pellet victims, held a sit-in at press colony Srinagar seeking an end to the use of pellet guns and justice as well as public support to help poor pellet victim families.

“We had no other option left. The government has done nothing for us and we haven’t been given any jobs and it became important for us to hold a sit-in and clear things to our people and tell them how we are suffering silently,” said Wani.

Wani’s trust is presently receiving little amounts as donations from the general public which the Trust is utilising to pay the medical bills and helping the pellet victim families.

“Right now we are focusing on paying for their treatment,” he said. “Insha Allah, we are looking forward to helping them get an education and undertake other welfare-related activities for them,” he added.

Courtesy: Two Circles

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Kashmir: Pellet victim Insha clears Class 10 exams, aims to become a doctor

Thu, 11 Jan 2018 08:04:00 +0000

Srinagar: On Tuesday, January 9, Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE) declared the result of students appeared in 10th class examinations. Over 62 percent students were declared successful.

A BOSE official said that 69,056 students including 35,997 boys and 33,059 girls appeared in the examinations of which 63.33 percent boys and 62.52 percent girls passed which included Insha Mushtaq, who was hit by pellets on the evening of July 11, 2016, when she opened a window to look outside her home in Sedow village of south Kashmir’s Shopian district.

Image courtesy: Kashmir Observer

She has qualified the 10th standard examinations and is looking forward to taking up medical subjects and become a doctor.

“She is very happy. She passed the exam despite taking help from a dictator. I have been receiving congratulatory calls since yesterday,” Insha’s father Mushtaq Ahmed Lone told TwoCircles.net over the phone.

“She is saying that she will take up medical subjects and work hard to become a doctor.”

Mushtaq further says that he will send her to Srinagar for further studies.

“I was at home when I was hit by hundreds of pellets, mostly on my face.They (pellets) even went inside my mouth,” Insha was quoted as saying in an Amnesty International report titled “Losing Sight in Kashmir” on the impact of pellet-firing guns. The report had also noted that many school and university students who had been hit in the eyes continue to have learning difficulties.

Insha was lauded by the former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah under whose regime the pellet guns were introduced in Kashmir and separatist leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq.

Abdullah tweeted: “May Allah keep rewarding your hard work and efforts.”

Senior separatist leader Umer Farooq also tweeted: “Congratulations to brave Insha Mushtaq… Despite going through the trauma of losing her eyesight due to pellets, she has managed an amazing feat. Her determination and resilience is an example for everyone. May Allah bless her always!”
More than 200 people hit by pellets fired by security forces during street protests in 2016 lost their vision either permanently or partially.

The unrest began on July 8, 2016, when Hizbul commander Burhan Wani was killed by the security forces in Anantnag district.

Courtesy: Two Circles

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