Brain Stormer: Pellet Guns: Why can’t we stop?

The ‘pellet gun effect’ on the protesters in Jammu & Kashmir has become a serious cause of concern for sure. Since July 8, from the day of the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, the pellet guns have injured so far around 3000 people across the State. These 45 days of unrest have witnessed the death of 68 people including the youngsters and out of them 50 were in the southern part of J&K.

Around 55 percent of the pellet gun victims come from the four districts of south Kashmir-Anantnag (constituency of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti), Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian. Relatively, the Srinagar area, the epicenter of the 2010 civilian uprising, is under better control and it has lesser casualties than before. But what brings tragedy to the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of Mehbooba is that most of the victims of pellet guns come from constituencies from where the party had won massively in the last Assembly election.

As the process for an immediate dialogue with the stakeholders has already begun, it is hoped that the simmering conflict in the State will soon come to an end. With casualties of pellet guns on the rise in the PDP dominated areas, it might have a negative impact on the prospects of the party for upcoming polls in future. Beyond this, even the voters will soon lose faith on the leadership of the party. Because these were places traditionally controlled by the PDP all through the maverick leadership of the late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed for long. Hence it may so happen that the effect of the pellet guns may finally snatch PDP from its traditional strongholds forever.

A pragmatic solution for which the central leadership is working along with all the opposition parties both at the national and the State level, may bring the desired results and normalcy will return to the conflict-ridden State. But to be more sensitive, one should not forget to look at the bigger picture of the ongoing unrest in the State wherein around 2600 security personnel are also badly injured. Their lives do matter along with the lives of the injured people of J&K. Thus while calling for a stop on the use of the pellet guns, the protesters must bring an end to their violence against the security forces so that peace and tranquility will be back to the State.