Sajad Lone accuses Rahul Gandhi of ignoring Kashmir's pellet gun victims

Peoples Conference president Sajad Lone on Sunday questioned Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's "silence" over pellet gun victims in Kashmir, even as he flagged concern shown by the Congress leader over a similar case in Delhi.

Lone asked why Gandhi's much-publicised concern over a pellet gun injury in Delhi was "nowhere to be found during years of mass blindings and gruesome pellet violence in Kashmir that left thousands permanently disabled and hundreds robbed of their eyesight forever." While acknowledging Gandhi's recent push for an FIR over the Delhi pellet injury case, Lone demanded to know why the same urgency had never been extended to Jammu and Kashmir. "May I, with all the humility at my command, beg to ask why the same effort was not used when pellets were fired in Kashmir on many occasions," the Handwara MLA said in a statement.

Lone said the scale of suffering in Kashmir was both staggering and well-documented. Citing the Jammu and Kashmir government's own records, he said 6,221 people were injured by pellet firing between 2016 and 2017, including 782 who sustained eye injuries. "Hundreds lost their eyesight and were blinded for life, with permanent visual impairment. Thousands were disabled permanently because of gruesome injuries," said Lone, who served as a minister in the PDP-BJP government between 2015 and 2018.

He further recalled that when pellet guns were first used in the Valley in 2010, dozens were blinded and hundreds injured, leaving behind what he described as severe and permanent disability that the country has "chosen to forget." "Why was the same concern not shown for those Kashmiris who were blinded or grievously injured? Are Kashmiris less human than others in this country?" he asked.

Lone urged Gandhi to visit Kashmir and attempt to get an FIR registered on behalf of pellet gun victims there. "It is still not too late. You can come here and talk about it and even try to register an FIR. This would at least put focus on those forgotten pellet victims," he said.

(With inputs from PTI)