‘More deaths if pellet guns are banned’

“In case, this (pellet gun) is withdrawn from the options available with the CRPF, the personnel would have no recourse in extreme situations but to open fire with rifles, which may cause more fatalities,” the CRPF said in an affidavit submitted to the High Court on Wednesday. The paramilitary force submitted the affidavit in response to a PIL filed before the court, seeking ban on use of pellet guns as a means for crowd control mechanism in the valley, which has been rocked by violent protests since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces on July 8. 

The force said pellet guns were introduced in 2010 and were an accepted weapon of riot control. The CRPF said it has fired around 3,500 pellet cartridges from July 9 to August 11 during violence by protesters in the valley. The PIL was filed by Kashmir High Court Bar Association on July 30. While the CRPF and Border Security Force (BSF) have submitted their replies, the state government has not filed its response so far. The case is listed for hearing on Saturday again.

Pakistan on Friday said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has deplored the loss of lives in the Kashmir unrest and offered his good offices to facilitate dialogue to resolve the Kashmir issue. The Secretary-General made the remarks in response to a letter by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who had apprised him about the ‘grave situation in Kashmir where large-scale violations of human rights were being committed by Indian security forces’, the Foreign Office (FO) said. Ban called for avoidance of violence and once again offered his ‘good offices to facilitate dialogue for a negotiated settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute”, the FO said. “The UN SG has, inter alia, deplored the loss of life and hoped that all efforts will be made to avoid further violence,” it said. Ban added the UN was convinced it is only through dialogue that the outstanding issues between Pakistan and India, including on Kashmir, can be addressed.