In occupied Kashmir, the local Human Rights Commission has asked the puppet authorities to submit a report on the number of protestors blinded from shotgun pellets used by the Indian forces against protesters during the uprising started in 2016.
The direction was passed after Muhammad Ahsan Untoo, Chairperson of International Forum for Justice and Human Rights, filed a petition before the commission and sought its intervention.
The commission last year took suo moto cognizance of the mass blinding in the Kashmir Valley and asked the authorities to submit a report. The district administrators in eight of the ten districts submitted the report admitting that at least 2,524 people were injured by pellets, many in the eyes.
Of these, the administration had submitted a list to the commission of 1,725 victims whose identities have been confirmed by the district administration. But the Human Rights Commission has once again asked for the full list of the injured victims.
According to the list submitted by the district administrator last year, in district Baramulla 1,252 victims including 30 women suffered pellet injuries. Of the 244 in Baramulla town, 65 suffered eye injuries. The data, compiled by the district administrators, further says that in Shopian 850 people were injured, of which 67 suffered eye injuries. In Ganderbal 137 victims including 19 women suffered pellet injuries. The administration submitted data only from July 8 to August 21, 2016. 154 people had received pellet injuries in Kulgam, 48 in Kupwara, 47 in Pulwama, 27 in Srinagar and 9 in Islamabad.
However, independent surveys say that the actual number of pellet victims is far more than the number given by the administrators.
The commission has consistently been asking the administration to frame a policy for the sustenance and assistance of pellet victims.
International human right bodies have also voiced their concern against the use of pellet gun and have called upon the Indian government to immediately stop the use of this lethal weapon.
