Srinagar: The thought of losing his sight kept Tanveer awake all night.
“Have the doctors arrived?” the 16-year-old repeatedly asked his father, Nazir Ahmad.
This morning, as a surgeon carefully removed the padding from Tanveer’s bruised eyes, his father ran out into the hospital corridor and cried.
“His right eye is completely damaged. There is a chance that some vision will regain in his left eye, ”the surgeon told Ahmad, after examining his son’s eyes and reviewing the CT scan report.
Photo: Mudasir Ahmad
A Class 10 student, Tanveer is the latest young man to be the victim of metal pellets, also known as bird shots, in Kashmir. On Saturday, the young man was part of a Muharram procession in Khomeini Chowk, on the outskirts of Srinagar, when police, armed with pump-action shotguns, fired pellets and tear gas projectiles to disperse the procession, Ahmad said.
A doctor said The wire that four pellets have broken Tanveer’s right eye, damaging his optic nerve, while one pellet has pierced a hole in his left eye.
“We will get a call to operate now or wait for the wounds to heal first,” the doctor said.
Lying on the bed inside room n. 7 from Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital in Srinagar, Tanveer pleaded with his uncle to tell him “the truth” about the condition of his eyes.
“I want to know if I’ll be able to see again,” Tanveer said softly, his eyes closed.
Then, he remembered his upcoming exams. “I also have to prepare for my exams,” she said, unaware that her life, like that of hundreds of young pellet victims in Kashmir, will be a tough fight from now on.
In 2016, when hundreds of young people lost their sight, partially or completely, to carry pellets during the summer uprising, Ahmad sent Tanveer to Aligarh to study. He returned home in March of this year when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of all educational institutions.
“It is so young, like a flower in bloom. Even the idea that he can’t see again is killing me inside, ”said Ahmad, a shopkeeper. “I’ve seen these pellet victims fight endlessly.”
As Ahmad spoke of his son’s passion for pursuing higher studies at the Muslim University of Aligarh, Tanveer interrupted him. “Please turn off this light. It hurts, I don’t like it, ”Tanveer said, with visible pain.
‘They didn’t even spare the children’
Tanveer’s uncle said Muharram’s procession was going on peacefully and would culminate 1 km later when police stepped into action and used force in the procession. Several videos that have gone viral on social media show mourners running for cover amid tear gas bombardments. In one video, a tear gas projectile explodes meters from a group of mourners.
“They didn’t even spare women and children when people ran to a nearby town to save themselves,” Tanveer’s uncle said.
According to him, more than 40 mourners, including young children, have been injured in the police action. Most of them were first taken to the nearby Imam Hussain Hospital for treatment, from where they were referred to the SMHS hospital.
SMHS Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr. Nazir Choudhary said eight people with pellet injuries were admitted to the hospital as of Saturday night. “There were more cases reported late. We are collecting the details, ”he said.
An administrator at Imam Hussain Hospital told the Cashmere Walla, a local news portal, which received 40 mourners with pellet injuries who were later referred to SMHS and Bone & Joint hospitals.
Senior Police Superintendent Srinagar Haseeb Mughal declined to speak about what led to the police action on the mourners. “I’m busy right now, I won’t be able to speak,” he said. Kashmir Police Inspector General Vijay Kumar did not respond to repeated calls and texts seeking comment.
One woman, Khatija, who was caring for her nephew, Suhail Abbas, another pellet victim admitted to the SMHS hospital, said police had initially allowed the procession. “And as the procession progressed, they used force, which resulted in many injuries,” he said.
During the Muharram procession, Shiite Muslims observe the martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Imam Hussain, more than 1,400 years ago. Over the past few days, the Kashmiri authorities have imposed strict restrictions on the Shiite-majority areas of Srinagar and adjacent Budgam to prevent mourners from taking out the processions, a practice that was banned by the government in 1989 when militancy broke out in the Valley. .
“Yei tchu zulum (this is tyranny). This was no protest and there were no slogans. They went out to mourn for Imam Hussain. Now the police are firing buckshot even at religious processions, ”Khatija said.
Suhail Abbas. Photo: Mudasir Ahmad
He pointed to his nephew: “Look what they did to him.”
A student in class 12, Abbas has four pellets stuck in his right eye. He had surgery on Saturday night and is scheduled to have another surgery in 15 days, his father said.
“I cannot see with my injured eye. It hurts if I focus with this eye even for a minute, ”he said.
Both Tanveer and Abbas are neighbors in Bemina, a town in the city. More than himself, Abbas was concerned for young Tanveer. “He is so young. What will you do if the condition of your eyes does not improve? “he asked his aunt.
“We are an oppressed people,” he replied. “It came out for Hussaniyat. Allah will take care of him. “
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