Nothing more effectively portrays the prolonged failure of New Delhi to “manage” the situation in troubled Jammu and Kashmir than the continued use of the infamous pellet-guns ~ over which the Supreme Court once again expressed its reservations on Monday. Obviously not overly impressed by the Attorney-General’s expression of near-helplessness of the security forces in the wake of their being under sustained attack from stone-pelting mobs, a bench headed by the Chief Justice of India has directed that an alternative mechanism be evaluated, and a detailed report be submitted to it by April 10. The court conceded that the matter was not strictly judicial, but said it was entitled to intervene to protect the interests of those suffering the fallout of violence ~ paramilitary and police personnel included.

Their Lordships yet again indicated concern over the injuries inflicted by the use of pellet-guns. This is the second time the apex court had queried the use of the weapon: in December it had ruled against their “indiscriminate and excessive use”, and cautioned the security forces to take recourse to pellet-guns only after “proper application of mind”. What is of some significance is that while highlighting the complexities of the ground realities when dealing  with a petition from the J&K Bar Association, the Attorney General  ignored the modifications the CRPF has carried out to prevent the pellet-guns from being fired into the upper bodies of the protesters ~ does that mean that the much-touted “deflectors” the CRPF had fitted to the weapons have not had the desired effect?  While there will be some expectations from the report due next month, most civil rights watchers in Jammu and Kashmir remain skeptical ~ for even an assurance the home minister had given to a delegation of visiting MPs had only marginal impact. The agonising reality is that the use of pellet-guns cannot be seen in isolation from the overall unrest in several parts of the Valley, and the local populace having lost faith in the capacity of the administration to provide even moderately decent governance. The PDP-BJP tie-up has succeeded only in the sense that it retains its majority in the legislature. The central government made a few token moves, but has done little to elevate the troubles above the law-and-order dimension: no political initiative has been launched with the result that even “moderates” are moving towards the extremes. The “intemperate” comments of the Army chief have exacerbated the stand-off. And the “success” of the surgical strikes has had no trickle-down effect. Against that backdrop the sustained use of the much-condemned, maiming, pellet-guns ~ employed nowhere else in the country let it be noted ~ has come to symbolise New Delhi’s groping in the Kashmir dark.

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