Indians blinding Kashmiris

The history of Indian-held Kashmir is full of martyrdom and state terrorism. Indian parliamentarians have confessed that in 2011, their troops and police allegedly ‘silenced’ over 40,000 separatists since 1989, by taking their lives. And now, in the last three weeks, they have made over 150 protesters blind by using pellets of “non-lethal” weapons, which severely damaged their retinas.

Indian authorities introduced the so-called non-lethal weapons in 2010. They were to be used against the protesters without the intent of killing them. Weapons don’t exactly shower rose petals. Even when they don’t kill, they do maim.

The Guardian recently reported that “doctors in Kashmir have performed about 150 eye surgeries to try to remove pellets from the retinas of the injured. “Most of the patients will lose their eyesight”, said one doctor. “It’s a fate worse than death”, said another. “No other country has wilfully blinded scores of youths.”

Those who lost their eyes were amongst the thousands of protesters injured during weeks-long protests against the killing of their youth leader Burhan Wani, on July 9. The protest and the state terrorism, which is said to be the worst in the last six years, have taken more than 50 lives. And the brutality continues. Separatists say the death toll has touched the figure of 100,000 since 1989. This is a startling figure.

Those who claim to be champions of justice and peace — such as the United Nations and the United States — have turned deaf and dumb in this scenario. They have conveniently blinded themselves with ignorance of the decades-long state terrorism in Indian-held Kashmir. It is they who are truly blind.

Why doesn’t India understand that a country comprises its people and their choice of rule? Governments that are the choice of the people build nations. Without the will of the people, it is no more than a mere jungle. On the contrary, India has converted people into corpses, land into graveyards and the rule is a one of brutality, not only in Kashmir, but in many states of India.

Can the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi determine the future of those who have lost their sight, or become handicapped due to excessive violence and brute force? What is the future of those families who have lost their loved ones upon whom they were dependant? He cannot answer these questions, as his party came to power on the basis of its anti-Kashmir policies.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th, 2016.