The doctors treating Kashmiris blinded by pellets

Two Kashmiri doctors describe treating pellet injuries and share their fears for the future of their patients. Al Jazeera: How many people have been treated here with eye injuries from pellet guns since July 9? Al Jazeera: How are pellet injuries different from other foreign objects entering the human eye? Pellet guns against protesters Indian security forces don’t use pellet guns anywhere else in the country and are now under pressure to stop using them in Kashmir The Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association has filed a petition at the state’s High Court asking for the use of pellet guns to be stopped, saying they are a lethal weapon Bashir Sidiq, the association’s general secretary, led a group of lawyers in protest outside the High Court. Fast Facts: The world’s most militarised zone India’s offensive against the rebels between 1990 and the mid-2000s has seen the number of rebel fighters decrease from nearly 30,000 to around 200 now, according to Umair Gul, a scholar from Jamia Millia Islamia University Indian-administered Kashmir remains the most militarised place in the world Khurram Parvez, a Kashmiri human rights activist says there are more than 650,000 troops stationed in the region – that is one soldier for every 17 Kashmiris Independent analysts believe the number of Indian troops to be around half a million The Indian government does not release official figures on the number of its troops in the disputed region Human rights organisations have accused Indian forces in Kashmir of unlawful killings, disappearances, rape and torture But the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which was introduced in the state in 1990, gives security forces virtual immunity from prosecution Maqbool: We need to move away from this perception that only protesters are being hit by pellets.