Are you angry with me? J&K CM asks girl blinded by pellets, at Safdarjung

NEW DELHI: A day after suggesting a three-pronged action plan to resolve the tension in Kashmir valley, Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti visited a teenage girl, who had lost her vision to pellet injuries, at Safdarjung hospital here on Sunday.
“I met 16-year-old Insha today at the hospital. When I saw her I was shocked. I asked her if she was angry with me. Her mother started crying,” the chief minister said as quoted by a news channel.“I wondered where we went wrong. There was an encounter and then such a situation erupted.”
The chief minister also met the girl’s doctors and requested them to make all possible efforts to restore her eyesight, according to a statement issued by her office. Mufti promised Insha’s parents that the state government would provide the best treatment for their daughter.
“Even if she requires an eye transplant to see the world again, the state government will provide full support,” she told the doctors.
The Class IX student lost her vision after suffering pellet gun injuries during a clash between protesters and security forces in Shopian.
Over 100 people, including children, have sustained eye injuries from pellet guns as a result of the the ongoing unrest in the valley . But this was the first time the chief minister visited a patient with eye injuries at a hospital.
Widespread injuries caused by pellet guns had played a role in fuelling the agitation in the valley.
While the central and state governments have advised the security forces to use less force, former home secretary G K Pillai has defended their use –– a decision taken since the agitation of 2010 –– saying it has brought down the number of casualties.
The unrest was triggered by the killing of Hizbul terrorist Burhan Wani on July 8. Since then, around 70 people have died and more than 5,000 injured in clashes.
Home minister Rajnath Singh has reiterated that the government will come up with an effective alternative to pellet guns.