Articles/Opinion

OP-ED: Pellets & Idiots – Let’s try to reason!

August 1, 2016 | By Baaghi Singh

by: Baaghi Singh

After a bloodbath of several days, “honorable” (Oh’ No ‘Reliable) Home Minister of India said in the parliament that he has now instructed the armed forces to use the “non-lethal” weapon, the pellets; below the knee and that too should be used with “maximum restraint” only on uncontrollable crowds”.

This statement disturbs me as an Indian (as a citizen of India and not as an Indian Nationalist)

As the statement itself being issued only after many days of unwarranted and unchecked assault on Kashmiri Brothers, does it mean that for all these days the instructions were “To use the lethal weapons above the knee height and with minimum or no restraint and should be used indiscriminately on the Kashmiri people(protestors and all others alike!!)

What does this mean? Armed Forces were acting all these days without any instructions or with different instructions? And if no, then why Mr. Home Minister is issuing the instructions now….Confusing right!! Let’s make it simple and make it sound more favorable to our “vulnerable” armed forces:

Actually I would like to believe that Armed forces have always been asked to exercise maximum restraint and hit only below the knee and I “believe” that our armed personnel were definitely aiming below the knee but……what to say now?? What possible reason could be there for these many deaths….ah yes!!! They were aiming below the knee but due to improper training and lack of practice they were missing the aim and by mistake the pellets are hitting on stomach….and (from others who are seriously lacking the training) are hitting on chest….and (still others who might be just newly recruited and not having any training at all), the pellets are missing the mark (which should be below the knee) by a big margin and are hitting the people on their faces, their eyes. Now that’s what I call a good explanation of all the causalities!!

There are no deliberate human riots violations; it’s just that our forces are not able to aim properly “below the knee” & missing the mark as they are not sufficiently trained! Simple!!

I know you might be thinking how come I am claiming here that Armed Forces are insufficiently trained. Wait…….did you hear what CRPF Chief had to say?, He said “ as many as 114 companies (about 11,400 personnel), which were undergoing training elsewhere, had to be pulled out and deployed in the state to control the situation”

Really? Armed Forces personnel who were still undergoing training were pulled and deployed in Kashmir to control the crowds. It’s like, in some war kind of situation, medical students(to be doctors) were to be pulled out of the medical colleges and sent for treating/operating injured causing more causalities than caused by war itself !

Now what do you expect from these untrained forces? It’s not their fault…they have been pulled halfway through their training.

OK, Wait….there are some other cases too!! Some women had been hit by the pellets while they are standing in their balconies (watching the protestors)….oh! Wait some even got hit while they were working in their kitchen on 1^st floor. (Courtesy: risingkashmir.com) Now that’s a big problem!!

Are Indian Armed forces missing the aim (as instructed by Oh’ No’ Reliable Home Minister working under more Oh’ No’ Reliable Prime Minister) by such a distance that the pellets are hitting people on 1^st floor or kitchen in the house. This cannot be even categorized as lack of training…..this is something else!!

What shall I do? How do I defend “my” armed forces? Shall I say that they were trying to hit under the knee of the person standing on 2^nd floor because that person was abusing the armed forces? Shall I say that it is not the armed forces, it is actually the crowd who has snatched the rifles and guns of the armed forces personnel (as already proven that they are not sufficiently trained) and hit on people standing on 2^nd floor (wait!! Why he wouldn’t hit the armed forces personnel instead from whom he has snatched that gun?? …….Uffff!!

Or shall I just say that the person with the gun, backed by the might of the state, have gone terribly ruthless and is reacting with no restraint to any small or big thing he considers wrong!!After all it is allowed AS PER LAW… You might wonder and ask “Excuse me…..which law?

Yes, my dear fellow citizens! Unfortunately, such kind of law exists and it is called Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).

So to maintain law and order, this will continue. Oh!! it has just been confirmed by CRPF chief and I quote “We will continue the use of pellets”

Standing in solidarity with Kashmiri Brothers

And

In sympathy with the state of our armed forces (who have been pushed to the site without proper training or are entrusted with a task more than their capability and sensibilities or are just hyper-reacting in in hate!)!

Yours truly,

Citizen of India

Finally, a small piece of history

When Aurangzeb used state terror to convert the people asking them to adhere and give in to what he (as a state) thinks right, the frightened Kashmiri Pandits reached out to Guru Tegh Bahadar Sahib (9^th Guru of Sikhs and revered with utmost respect by all Indians) for help, The Guru helped them and sacrificed his life for their rights, upholding the human values on the face of the mighty state. It is the same situation now, monarchy is replaced by a majoritarian democracy and Kashmiri Muslims are facing the wrath of the state instead of Pandits.

Will we think again and try to revisit your perspective?

No, because actually we are world’s largest democracy………… because our constitution is supreme……..because our culture is the best ,,because we are nationalists…because we are facing an external threat……..because army can never do wrong…because we have won elections…because we have people’s mandate……because law will take its own course(ahem!! Which law …. AFSPA….oh yes!!)….

Because, may be, we are idiots!!

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Related Topics: Human Rights, Indian State, Kashmir, Kashmir Agitation, Kashmir Conflict, Kashmir Issue, Kashmir Killings, Rajnath Singh

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