Amnesty International has demanded the Govt. of Jammu and Kashmir to prohibit the use of pellet-firing shotguns in policing demonstrations stating that these weapons not accurate and indiscriminate.
In an incident of pellet firing short guns a 16-year-old young man Hamid Nazir Bhat was seriously injured and lost his eye sight of his one eye. He is a resident of Palhalan area of north-western Baramulla district.
Amnesty International gave a statement yesterday that the police authorities in Jammu and Kashmir has been using pellet shotguns for a long time and several cases of serious injuries have been by the people.
No doubt police have a duty to the lives of people and also to prevent violent crime. However in fulfilling these duties, policemen, as far as possible should use non-violent means to control the mob. Mr. Shemeer Babu, Programmes Director at Amnesty International told that such weapons should be used only in serious cases. Police sources have been claiming that these guns are not lethal weapons but the Human Right Activists question this claim. Police officials say that pellet gun cartridges contain 400-500 plastic pellets which resemble ball bearings.
The Amnesty International members said that in controlling protest police should distinguish between persons engaging in violence and peaceful demonstrators or common people. Force should be used only against the violent protesters and non-violent protestor should be protected from injury.
Mr. Javaid Gillani IG of police Kashmir Range said that instruction have been issued to State Police that pellet guns should be used only when protesters go out of control. However he admitted that the pellets gun fired do not have a predictable trajectory, Amnesty International opined.