Kupwara scribe suffers eye damage due to pellet
A scribe working for a local news agency in north Kashmir district of Kupwara has suffered eye damage due to pellets shot by forces outside his residence at Kralgund Qaziabad near Langate. Mir Javiad is presently undergoing treatment at SMHS hospital here.
“I was covering protests and clashes which erupted after congregational Friday prayers. Forces ransacked residential houses and beat inmates as people run to safer places, I also took shelter in a nearby house,” Mir said.
“After sometime, I came out and was planning to visit hospital to get the details of persons injured in forces action,” he said, adding he thought it better to inquire about his own family members first and then to leave for hospital.
“As I reached near the main gate, a gypsy came and shot pellets on me. I was all alone and there were no other persons. There were no protests or clashes at that time and I was targeted,” he said. He said that pellet hit his eyes and various parts of the body.
“People took me to hospital where forces fired pepper gas into the hospital. I was vomiting and couldn’t move to safer place. However, one of the injured persons took me on his shoulders out of the hospital,” he said. He said he had to spend a night in friend’s home where from he contacted one of the medical officers. “That medical officer helped me in shifting to SMHS hospital,” he said.
Mir alleged that forces targeted him for sharing reports of north Kashmir with Srinagar based newspapers. “They (Forces) know I am a scribe and also know well that I share and write news about the happenings of north Kashmir. They dislike it,” he alleged. Mir’s one has been damaged. “We have operated on his one eye. Our efforts are on so that his eyesight would not suffer in any way,” said a medico.
Media person of north Kashmir have condemned the forces action against scribe. “We demand impartial probe into the matter and severe punishment to guilty,” they said. They have also appealed concern authorities to ensure journalists are not harmed when they perform their professional duties in field.
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