Three blinded girls are latest pellet victims Pakistan High Commission is a den of ISI activities, says BJP
SRINAGAR: Ifrah Shakoor,13, a Class 8 student, lies in ward number seven of Srinagar’s SMHS hospital, rendered blind after being hit by pellets in both eyes at Rohmoo village in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Monday evening, as pelletwoesreturnedtohauntKashmir.
The use of the controversial pelletgunsasa“non-lethal”weaponof mob control has been criticised as its use during the ongoing unrest has killed over 10 people and blinded scores. Despite calls by opposition parties and rights groups to ban the use of pellet guns, the government has refused to do so.
Seven patients were brought into the SMHS hospital with pellet injuries in their eyes on Monday eveningfromPulwama,andamong them are three teenage girls who are critically injured.
An officer at the police control room in Pulwama said on Monday evening, security forces cordoned off an area near the village and conducted a search operation when stones were pelted on them, to which forces retaliated.
But the families of those injured say the victims were not part of the stone-pelting protests but were sitting inside their homes. Observers say the young girls were not part of stone-pelting crowds.
“Ifrah’s condition is bad,” says Dr Tariq Qureshi, head of the department of ophthalmology, Government Medical College (GMC), Srinagar, adding that her vision in one eye might be saved.
“The other two girls also have perforating injuries in their eyes. First round of tests have been conducted on them and consecutive rounds will be performed in following weeks,” Dr Qureshi added.
Shakoor’s eyes are closed and her face is dotted by red marks left by pellets. On the bed next to her lies Shabroza,16, hit in both eyes by pellets. Her brother Khurshid informs that she was in the house when clashes started and she was hit when she just stepped out.
The third injured, also named Shabroza,18, lies a few beds away. Her left eye has been left perforated by pellets on which the first round of surgery was completed. NEW DELHI: Taking its rhetorical aggression against Pakistan to a new high, the BJP on Tuesday described the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi an “ISI den” that was “breaking all laws”.
The ruling party said the Centre had taken note of it and appropriate action would be taken. The comment came in the backdrop of New Delhi declaring a High Commission staff persona non-grata on charges of espionage.
“The reality is that the High Commission here has become an ISI den. It is breaking all rules and laws... Its work is no longer about diplomatic relationship. It has become a centre of smuggling information from here to there (Pakistan),” party national secretary Shrikant Sharma said.
Meanwhile, Pakistani newspaper Dawn claimed on Tuesday that Pakistan was considering pulling out of India four officials posted at its High Commission in New Delhi.
“This is under consideration. A final decision will be taken shortly,” a source at the foreign office was quoted as saying by Dawn.
The names of the officers — commercial counsellor Syed Furrukh Habib and first secretaries Khadim Hussain, Mudassir Cheema and Shahid Iqbal — were made public after a recorded statement of high commission staffer Mehmood Akhtar was released to the media, the report said. Akhtar was expelled from India after being declared ‘persona non-grata’.
Akhtar told Dawn News he gave the statement under duress.