Day after the report released by the Amnesty International India on Wednesday on some of the victims of pellet guns here, the chief minister Mehbooba Mufti disbursed financial assistance to those who lost their eyesight due to pellet gun injuries during protests in the valley last year. The move follows a slew of measures initiated by the chief minister for the rehabilitation of the victims of violence in the state. This is a positive initiative on part of government towards the rehabilitation of pellet victims and the administration needs to do more in this regard so as to instill a hope among the victims and their miserable families. The violence that erupted last year was not one-sided to blame the government but a sponsored one by those inimical of peace in the valley. It is of utmost satisfaction that authorities have succeeded to a greater extent in containing the law and order problem and reining in the elements that were hell bent on vitiating peace in the state. Whatever befell those injured by pellets is heart-wrenching and the government has time and again expressed lament over such tragedies. Now, it is doing its best to rehabilitate them and must continue until these victims see the light of the day. We support the Amnesty’s call for a complete ban on the use of such weapons as a crowd control measure and recommend full reparation in line with international standards to those who have been injured by pellets and to the families of those killed in security forces’ action. One positive step by government will instill a ray of hope among people and will prove instrumental in bringing the valley back to complete normalcy.
