Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said wanton use of pellet guns against the young protestors by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in Kashmir was unacceptable.
Capt Amarinder, talking informally to the reporters after inducting Panjab University Students’ Council general secretary Rishi Bhardwaj and Vinod Dahiya and Rohit Saini of the National Students Organisation into the Congress, reacted to the CRPF DGP Durga Prasad’s statement that the pellet guns would continue to be used against stone pelting mobs.
“These are proving lethal,” said Capt Amarinder.
“We can’t go on blinding our young boys even if they are instigated to provoke,” he said, while pointing out that young boys have been protesting and pelting stones at many places in the world even in Palestine but they are not shot with the pellet guns.
He suggested that the CRPF should adopt more such methods and minimise the loss of lives. “Even the rubber bullets are an option…The purpose should be deterring and not punitive to the extent that protesting boys are blinded for life,” he added.