CDS Gen Bipin Rawat at Raisina Dialogue 2020 | Photo Credit: ANI

New Delhi: Before the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir last August, stone-pelting at security forces was a common practice in the erstwhile state. To tackle these protesters, the security forces had started using non-lethal pellet guns. However, controversy had erupted over the same too with many stone-pelters allegedly receiving pellet injuries in the eyes and on the face.

On Thursday, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat reacted on such injuries while speaking at the Raisina Dialogue 2020. Gen Rawat explained that the security forces did not specifically target the protesters in the eye and face but the same happened due to circumstances of the situation.

Gen Rawat headed the Indian Army when the controversy over the use of pellet guns had erupted in Jammu and Kashmir, which is now a union territory. Apart from revoking the special status of J&K in August last year, the Union government had also bifurcated the state into two union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Here’s what India’s first CDS said on pellet guns at the Raisina Dialogue 2020 today:

#WATCH Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat speaks on stone pelters & use of pellet guns in Kashmir valley. pic.twitter.com/WvJfAwAdCi — ANI (@ANI) January 16, 2020

“There were people, young people, who had been radicalised, who were pelting stones, which was as lethal as pellet guns. We have had casualties including death being caused by stones. If we start saying that the security forces also start using stones against stone pelters, that is not the way security forces are meant to act.

“Pellet guns are supposed to be a non-lethal weapon system. It is meant to be fired at the legs. But you see how a stone pelter operates. I will show you positions, they are picking up stones from the ground while some are standing. So, when the forces are firing at the legs, there are some people whose face is touching the ground while picking up stones. So the pellet goes and hits the face,” Gen Rawat said.

File image | Courtesy: PTI

“The soldier is not aiming for the face but he is aiming for the legs. But if at that stage, you are picking up a stone and your face is at leg height, obviously your face will get hit. I don't think the security forces can be blamed for the injuries that are caused by pellet guns,” he added.

Gen Rawat reiterated that pellet guns are “non-lethal weapon system”. “But now we have devised different ways of dealing with it. Pellet guns are being used very sparingly, in fact, I would say, very rarely,” he stated.