.The reported move to increase the stockpile of the much criticised pellet shotguns in Kashmir
Valley after last year’s incidents of stone pelting during street protests
following the death of separatist militant Burhan Wani has predictably
drawn sharp reaction from a wide range
of public opinion. The stockpile is believed to be raised from its existing strength
of about 600 to over 4,000.
Attacking the move for expansion of the pellet
shotgun armoury, former chief minister Omar Abdullah said the ruling PDP- BJP
coalition government in the state had “chosen
not to learn any lesson from the recent unrest and the devastating effect of
pellet guns” which had left hundreds of
young people with the loss of partial or complete eyesight.
The reaction of extremist Hurriyat faction leader Syed Ali
Geelani was expectedly typical: “ The Indian authorities are hell-bent on
muzzling voices.” So was that of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the other Hurriyat
faction leader, who said: “Stockpiling pellet shotguns or lethal weapons or
packages (economic) cannot make the people of Kashmir give up their basic
political rights.”
Earlier reports had
suggested that the central authorities had decided to modify the design of pellet shotguns to minimise injuries. The new style guns, perhaps
packed with PAV or chilli shots, will have a metal "deflector", an
attachment on the muzzle end, to prevent the pellets from hitting straight into the chest and above. The new design will ensure that
shrapnels do not hit above the abdomen region.
Redesigning of weapons -- a good after-thought – should have been done long ago, --years ago. A much simpler crowd control tactic, as this writer has been suggesting for years, lies in first trying water cannons before any kind of guns. And training the paramilitary personnel to point the guns downwards should have been basic starting code.
For a start,
the use of pellet guns or 12-bore guns which eject splinter shots as a civilian
crowd control weapon should be outlawed,
not just in Kashmir but anywhere in the country or world.
Civil protests need civil remedies, not an
impatient jump to lethal weapons. The administration’s response should be
calibrated and gradual. Water cannons should be employed in the first instance
if the protesters turn unruly and refuse
to disperse in defiance of official appeals on loud hailers and other modes of
persuasion. Water cannons will definitely cool down good numbers of protesters who will start melting away after
one, two or more charges.
The
die-hards may be tackled with normal
policing -- baton or lathi charges assisted by mounted police (on horse) if
necessary. In case of protesters
indulging in stone pelting or other violent acts, tear gas and laughing gas,
yes laughing gas -- ask the chemical gas
experts -- should be tried to turn the
tables on the demonstrators.
A small
number of hard core protesters will always be there to the bitter end for whom
rubber bullets, not rifle shots or pellet guns, may be necessary. And the police, paramilitary or other
personnel must be trained to shoot below the waist only to disable them
temporarily and not shoot wildly in panic or self-defence. Even the rubber
bullet guns can be redesigned to fire downwards aiming below the waist.
Another
vital measure long overdue in Kashmir is the need to modify Afspa
(Armed Forces Special Powers Act) which has been in force since
1990. It has been a standing irritant to
all sides for too long. A comprehensive rethink of this measure which has
lasted more than a quarter century is long overdue. It calls for a gradual
overhaul.
To begin
with Afspa’s extensive visibility needs to be reduced. The posting of
gun-carrying paramilitary personnel at Lal Chowk in Srinagar or along the Dal
Lake Boulevard and other popular spots across the Valley in full glare of the civilian population does
no good to anybody. Billet the armed men
inside offices or buildings from where they can be called out at
moment’s notice, if needed in emergency. This constant display of adversarial
imagery must be avoided at all costs. Make no mistake, such display of CRPF and
other paramilitary presence is highly adversarial in character. It is equally
damaging to the psyche of the poor men in paramilitary uniforms.
The visible presence of
uniformed men should be strictly left to the provincial J&K state police
personnel.
Gradually
when the tempers cool down, as they did during the five years before last
year’s eruption, step by step dilution
of Afspa must be undertaken. The centre and state government need to accept
this challenge with courage and confidence. India has erred on the side of
caution for too long.
Above all, what is needed
is not just modified pellet guns, but
modified Kashmir policy and a return to all round dialogue not just with
stakeholders in Kashmir and the rest of India but across the LoC and the
borders.
Modification of weapons
and restraint on resort to guns by paramilitary forces is equally needed
in Pakistan where the military is too quick to gun down its designated
terrorists. Killing opponents, even of
Taliban variety, only produces more of them. What’s more important is that Pakistan should de-fang its mullas, madrassas and
hotheads in military to prepare the
ground for a dialogue with India.
An all-out Indo-Pak dialogue,
which has a large constituency in both countries, must
be revived even though the prevailing circumstances are far from propitious.
Nevertheless the upcoming Indus Waters talks with both sides participating
offer a straw worth clutching at. Talks
on the sidelines could keep the window open for a dialogue in not too distant a
future.
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