5 lose eyesight to pellets in 2015, reveals RTI

Greater Kashmir‎‎: Srinagar: Saturday, April 23, 2016.

At least five persons lost their eyesight after being hit in their eyes by pellets, fired at them by government forces in Kashmir during last year.

As per official data, from January to December 2015, the number of victims who received pellet injuries in their eyes is nine. Out of these, five lost their eyesight.

According to the information obtained through Right to Information (RTI) Act by Hurriyat (M) human rights wing head MannanBukhari, 16 patients with pellet injuries were admitted to SKIMS Medical College Hospital Bemina previous year.

“Out of them, nine had injuries in their eyes and were admitted and treated in Ophthalmology Department of the hospital. Two of them lost sight in both eyes, three in one eye and one patient recovered partial eye sight,” says the RTI reply.

The information revealed that total number of patients with pellet injuries admitted to various hospitals from October 2014 to December last year was 54, with 45 having eye injuries.

In SMHS Hospital, the authorities could not provide the exact number of patients who lost their eye sight or whose sight was impaired by pellets.

According to the information provided by SMHS Hospital, 48 patients with pellet injuries were treated there from October 2014 to November 2015 while as 42 of them were admitted to the hospital.

“The Department of Ophthalmology, Government Medical College Srinagar said 38 pellet injury victims were admitted in the department from October 2014 to November 2015. And 32 patients with pellet injuries required operative procedure in the department,” revealed the RTI reply.

On May 26, 2015, PDP leader and MoS Health, AasiyaNaqash had asked State Government to ban use of pellet guns by police and paramilitary forces in Kashmir, saying there can’t be a second opinion on the issue.

Meanwhile, Kashmir Rights Monitoring Centre (KRMC), through which the information was obtained, in a statement said that the use of purported “non-lethal” weapon pellet gun by government forces continues to haunt Kashmiri youth and is still a preferred weapon of the forces to quell the public protests or to target the bystanders and other civilians.