- Insha Mushtaq lost her eyesight at 14 due to pellet gun injuries in Kashmir in 2016
- About 6,000 people were hit by pellets during periods of unrest in Kashmir, causing mass blinding
- Pellet guns have not been used recently in Kashmir due to a changed security situation
Insha Mushtaq is the face of 'pellet horror' in Jammu and Kashmir. At 14, she was struck by a barrage of pellets that permanently blinded her. Now, the recent use of pellet guns during the student protests in Delhi has brought back horrifying memories of this crowd-control weapon. A large number of people in Kashmir valley have suffered lifelong disabilities including loss of eyesight but are reluctant to speak.
Pellet guns have not been used in Kashmir valley for some time due to a change in the ground situation. However, hundreds of victims like Insha stand as witnesses on how lethal pump-action could be when it is used to deal with protests or law and order situations.
In 2016, Kashmir saw the biggest mass-blinding campaign. Of 12,000 people who were injured, at least 6,000 were hit by pellets during periods of unrest. The foreign media called it an "epidemic of dead eye".
The BJP often blames Jammu and Kashmir's regional parties for killing and injuring hundreds of civilians in the valley before Article 370A under the Constitution was scrapped in August 2019.
Before that, in July 2016, Insha was not even a protester. She was sitting by the window of her house and preparing for her Class 8 exam when a hail of pellets hit her. Multiple surgeries could not restore sight in both her eyes.
She is 24 now. She does not know much about the use of pellet guns in the recent youth protest in Delhi's Jantar Mantar. However, she expressed disappointment that not many people raised their voice for the pellet gun victims of Jammu and Kashmir.
"People raised their voice when pellet guns were used in Delhi, but no one raised it when pellet guns destroyed the lives of so many children in Kashmir valley," Insha said.
She has not abandoned her studies despite losing her eyesight. Today, 10 years since the day she was shot with a pellet gun, she is doing her graduate studies in Braille and also using assistive technologies like screen-reading. She said her parents motivated her to continue studies and a non-profit helped her in the journey.
But the trauma and horror of the pellet injury never went away. Initially, she showed a reluctance to speak and blamed political leaders and the media for using her tragedy to play politics and engage more audience.
She said she can never forget July 11, 2016 when pellets fired by security forces changed her life forever. She suffered 100 pellet wounds on her body including severe facial and cranial bone fractures.
Insha's case was a rare one in the context of government support. The then state government led by Mehbooba Mufti gave a job to her father, Mushtaq Ahmad. But no investigation happened and the families of all other pellet victims did not get any compensation. The family says the government had also allotted a gas agency to Insha but it has only remained on paper.
The youngest victim of pellets was one-and-a-half-year old child, Hiba.
In most of the cases, pellet victims just want to be forgotten, fearing that disclosure of their identity may trigger a fresh police investigation.
There is no need for the use of pellet guns in Kashmir valley since the BJP-led Centre hit the root cause of pellet horror with the scrapping of special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Leader of Opposition in the assembly Sunil Sharma said, adding regional parties have been encouraging and promoting separatism while also putting children in harm's way.
"The family-run parties of Kashmir were enjoying the use of pellets against children. We have hit the root cause and targeted the separatist and Hurriyat people, who were behind the protests and stone-throwing. Now, there is no need for use of pellet guns here," Sharma said.
The BJP leader said Pakistan and separatist-sponsored protests and violence only strengthened the rule of the Mufti and Abdullah families.
Pellet guns were introduced in Jammu and Kashmir in 2010. The weapon was billed as a less lethal option to live bullets. In 2016, there was widespread use of the weapon.
