While we look at the disfigured face of Insha, lamenting the pellets, the brutality, the conflict that did this to her, Insha also wants to see her face. A doctor was what she wanted to become but ended up becoming a poster face for the pellet victims of Kashmir.
The ever-tumultuous conflict had already made it difficult for people to get an education normally, but the way artillery flies around us puts each individual at an unabated risk. But Insha isn’t just a poster girl for the atrocities that the young students face.
She is a girl with dreams, aspirations, and ambitions. But this isn’t a case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. In Kashmir, every time is wrong and every inch dangerous.
Insha comes from the tragically beautiful village of Sedow, in an equally tragic Kashmir. On the evening of July 11, 2016, the area was engulfed in the protest after the death of Burhan Wani. Insha, who was peeping from her house, faced the wrath of the police. They shot pellets at her, which hit her face, shattered the windows and her dreams. At 14, she was blinded forever.
Doctors described her as the worst case ever, and there wasn’t any way she could get her eyesight back. Insha became completely dependent on her parents for everything. Some teachers from her village tried to help her, but after losing her eyesight, studying even simple things was colossal labour.
She used to get oral lessons and had to memorize everything, even mathematics. She became increasingly hopeless and inevitably depressed. Every now and then, she would lose her patience and her will to study. She decided to opt for music over mathematics because her hands will shiver when she made calculations.
Learning Braille was another massive challenge for her, with frequent electricity cuts and scarce resources. Even though Insha passed her 10th standard examination, the fact she was dependent on another person to write her paper raises the question of her future education.
Despite the period of outrage over her situation and numerous news pieces later, Insha still remains blind. She was the worst case, but she isn’t the only case, nor will she be the last case. During the 2016 uprising, over 1200 people were hit by pellets in their eyes, which left them either partially or completely blind. Out of these, 14% were under the age of 15.
According to a 2017 report, Losing Sight in Kashmir by Amnesty International, pellet-firing shotguns have been responsible for blinding, killing, and traumatizing hundreds of people in Kashmir. The report also brought to light that the students who had been hit in the eyes face serious learning difficulties as well as severe mental trauma.
Yet, on November 25, 2018, Hiba Nisar, a 19-months old girl, became the youngest victim of pellets, with her right eye being blinded forever.
These victims aren’t just collateral damage or another number to the statistics. Every kid that is injured points toward every other who isn’t safe. Every student that has to dropout of school puts the education in Kashmir in danger. We cannot brush it under the carpet when there are actual measures that could be taken to avoid casualties like this.
While the politicians may blame the unrest on the uneducated youth, the magnanimous damage done to the students by their policies and unrest is never touched upon. The authorities shrug off their accountability by terming these as non-lethal, but pellet guns and the arbitrary trajectory they take put everyone at risk.
These aren’t just as dangerous as guns but violate the international standards on the use of force. Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao will remain a mere slogan if the only thing that the young girls become is a victim. Insha isn’t just a person we mourned, but a person who is still alive with her whole life ahead of her.
The author is a Kaksha Correspondent as a part of writers’ training program under Kaksha Crisis.