SRINAGAR: Hitting out at the Centre over reports that the number of pellet guns being used during crowd control in Kashmir valley will go up in the coming months, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said so much for the assurance that pellet guns would be used in “rarest of rare cases”.
“So much for the assurance that pellet guns would be used in “rarest of rare cases”. The number of guns deployed to increase substantially,” Mr Abdullah, who is the working president of main opposition National Conference (NC), wrote on micro-blogging site twitter.
Mr Abdullah was reacting to reports that the Centre has given a nod for procuring over 4000 more pellet guns for Kashmir valley.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh during his two visits last year to the valley had promised to ban pellet guns and restrict its use till the time other alternate was found.
Mr Singh had even constituted a panel to look into alternatives for pellet gun, but reportedly the home ministry in January gave a nod for procuring more pellet guns, which will be used in the valley.
Over 95 civilians were killed while thousands others were wounded, some of them with eye injuries, in clashes which erupted since July 9. Business and other activities came to grinding halt in the valley for about five months against the civilian killings, following Mr Singh visited Kashmir to hold talks with various stake holders, except separatists, who were spearheading the agitation and issuing protest calendars.
A parliamentary delegation headed by Mr Singh also visited the valley, but nothing substantial came out from the meetings with various stake holders.
However, various members of the delegation urged the government to stop use of pellet guns during crowd control in the Valley.
A five-member delegation?led by senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha after its visit to the valley also recommended ban on the use of pellet gun. However, security force official have time and again asserted that pellet guns will be used during crowd control in the Valley. (AGENCIES)
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