Newly-designed pellet can reduce fatalities
On the eve of his retirement, Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force General K Durga Prasad's move to re-introduce the use of pellet guns is praiseworthy. Indeed, the newly accessorized version of pellet guns may come as a plausible solution to the ever-growing problem of crowd-control in Jammu & Kashmir. The newly-improved technology, called the ‘deflator', is an attachment on the top of the muzzle and has an amazing feature to prevent the pellets from going haywire and instead direct them to move downwards beyond the abdomen region. The use of pellet guns was introduced by the Congress-led UPA Government in 2010 as an alternative to the rubber bullets in the wake of unrest in the valley which claimed more than 100 lives due to police firing. Pellet guns, considered to be a non-lethal device, was intended to disperse the stone-pelting protesters who were at the fore front to prevent the Army from carrying out anti-terror operations. However, contrary to its purpose, while it did not kill people, it severely injured them by penetrating deep into the tissues. It proved to be lethal when fired from close quarters and not only caused severe injuries but resulted in loss of sight.
Things worsened last year, during the Burhan Wani protest, when hundreds of protesters were severely hit in their eyes. Since then, the Opposition, various other political parties in Jammu & Kashmir and also human right bodies have been pressing the Government on the need to stop using this deadly weapon. In this context, it was in August last year, during his visit to the valley, that Union Minister for Home Affairs Rajnath Singh, while acknowledging that pellet guns were lethal devices, promised to look for an alternative to it. Subsequently, in September 2016, the Home Ministry cleared the use of ‘Pelargonic Acid Vanillyl Amide' (PAVA), also known as ‘Nonivamide', an organic compound found characteristically in natural chilli pepper. PAVA is a kind of non-lethal munition that temporarily incapacitates the target, causing severe irritation leading to unconsciousness, but for only few minutes. However, the measure remained a failure and the use of pellet guns remained in force in partial ways.
The Government's intent to look for options to ensure humane treatment for both the civilians and the soldiers, who are there on the ground facing the wrath of the violent mobs, is commendable. Of course, Director General Prasad’s out-of-the-box solution and Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat’s recent warning that stone-pelters who come in the way of Army operations will be severely dealt with, alone cannot be a remedy to control the violent situation in Jammu & Kashmir. Efforts like these must be complemented with innovative political strategies on the part of the State Government which must reach out to the misled youth, the people and the separatists in the valley.