A necessary evil

When passions peak, as in the Kashmir Valley after Burhan Wani’s killing, temperance becomes a casualty. The protesting crowds were unmanageable as the pent-up anger over the status quo erupted in the form of attempts to raze army and police installations. Security officers might appear blasé now but they had struggled to control the outpouring of frustration when the protests were at their peak. And in this, they thought the best option was to clear the streets by firing pellet guns rather than heavy ammunition that claims a much heavier toll. The greater use of pellet guns has led to a lower death toll than during the 2010 protests when they were not as widely deployed.

But the Valley’s security managers had not accounted for the powerful impact of the social media. Images of children, barely out of teens with bloodshot eyes that may never see again, have obliged the Union Government to announce a committee to suggest effective but less lethal forms of crowd control. The alternatives such as rubber pellets, tear gas and cattle prod guns, were used but in less perilous situations. Kashmiris might also consider themselves better placed than people of tribal Central India and the North East where unruly crowds are still dispersed by the traditional rifle and august bodies such as the United Nations ignore their travails.

Pellets do cause more unintended injuries because they don’t follow a definite path and bounce off rocks and trees. This is what caused injuries to people watching the action unfold from their homes. But can pellet guns be the only alternative? Could Wani have been arrested? Even Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti understands that the alternative forms of crowd control being suggested by human rights advocates won’t work. That is why on becoming Chief Minister, she dropped her opposition on security forces using pellet guns. There seems to be no alternative to this necessary evil unless the political class casts aside its shortsightedness and genuinely attempts a political solution. The only less lethal solution than pellet guns is talks.