Islamabad
In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, political analysts, Kashmir watchers and observers have said that the ongoing use of pellet firing shotguns by Indian troops in the territory constitutes a war crime.
India first started using pellet guns against the Kashmiris in 2010 but the matter only hit the international prominence in 2016 when protests following the extra-judicial killing of popular youth leader, Burhan Wani, resulted in thousands of injuries, the blinding of hundreds and the deaths of over 70 people. The massive use of pellet guns caught the attention of the world. The Guardian published a story asking if Kashmir represented “the world’s first mass blinding”.
Political analysts, Kashmir watchers and observers while talking to the KMS over phone from Srinagar while seeking anonymity due to reprisal from the Indian authorities said that the people of IIOJK were not just symbols of injustice, they were also living in terrible pain. The Kashmir people also have rights under international law but their rights are being consistently violated by the Indian regime, they said. “Irrespective of how the territorial issue of Kashmir is eventually resolved, there is a human aspect to Kashmir which needs to be confronted now. This is not just a dry legal dispute to be debated in textbooks and seminars,” they added.
Kashmir watchers and observers said, as far as international law is concerned, the position is very simple: there is no legal regime which permits a state to routinely disperse crowds of civilians by firing shotguns at them.
According to the Omega Research Foundation (ORF), a UK-based independent organization that monitors military equipment, “The spread pattern specified by the pellet manufacturer is so inaccurate that even when security forces use the weapon to target protesters’ legs, pellets are still likely to hit areas of the body above the waist. No modification could make its use compliant with international human rights law and standards.—KMS
