The Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday sought eye surgeons from New Delhi and other cities to treat scores of Kashmiris hit by pellet guns in the deadly unrest across the valley
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti
Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday sought eye surgeons from New Delhi and other cities to treat scores of Kashmiris hit by pellet guns in the deadly unrest across the valley.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. Pic/ PTI
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An official spokesperson said Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti spoke to Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda requesting him to send a specialized team of doctors, including retina surgeons.
They will take care of the injured who have suffered ophthalmic trauma in the last five days of violent unrest in the Kashmir Valley.
“We are expecting these specialized doctors to arrive (soon) and get down to the job immediately,” a health department official said.
The official said the government was also facilitating shifting outside the state any injured who may need super-specialized treatment.
According to doctors at Srinagar’s SMHS Hospital, more than 100 people, including some minors, with pellet bullet wounds in their eyes have been treated.
Doctors at the hospital have conducted more than 80 eye surgeries in the last four days. Other hospitals in the valley have also received hundreds of injured hit by pellets.
Pellet guns have been used by security forces as a tool to control unruly mobs since 2010 when more than 100 people were killed in firing by security forces following street protests.
Human rights groups have criticized the use of pellet because it can leave a victim maimed or blind for life.
The cartridge of pellet gun is different from a bullet. A pellet gun sprays small iron ball bearings towards a target with high velocity. These bearing can pierce a human body at dozens of spots.
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