Pellet guns blind too many protesters, so India seeks a new 'non-lethal' weapon
India examines new irritants including chili-pepper shells, cannons that fire water slugs and rubber-nosed plastic shells that can be used in place of the damaging lead pellets that have caused hundreds of injuries in Kashmir
In eight weeks of violent clashes that ripped through India’s strife-torn Kashmir province, the national spotlight has been on the millions of tiny lead pellets fired by the police on protesters, blinding dozens and injuring hundreds more.
Amid growing public outcry, criticism from human rights groups and calls for a ban on pellet guns, the Indian government is now looking for a new non-lethal weapon that can temporarily incapacitate violent mobs without causing permanent damage. On Monday, a security official said that the use of pellet guns will be regulated and used only in extreme situations in the future.
A seven-member panel set up by the ministry of home affairs is now examining a string of new irritants including chili-pepper shells, cannons that fire water slugs and rubber-nosed plastic shells that can be used in place of the damaging lead pellets.
Calling the pellet gun non-lethal is a dangerous fallacy
New Delhi’s search for new, less lethal weapons illustrates a key challenge that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government faces - to be tough in tackling angry mobs in Kashmir without inflaming the anger even more, and at the same time, as a senior security officer said, inviting the wrath of human rights activists.