NDTV Impact: J&K Pellet Victim Who Lost Eyesight In 2016 Gets Compensation

The Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday approved the release of Rs 41.16 lakh to Insha Mushtaq, who lost her vision after pellet guns struck her eyes, to open an LPG gas agency. This comes days after NDTV on Monday reported on the plight of the 24-year-old, who lost her eyesight permanently after a barrage of pellets hit her in 2016.NDTV had visited the Sedow village in Shopian district earlier this week to report on the struggle of Insha, as the alleged use of pellet guns during the recent student protests in Delhi brought back the memories of the widespread use of pump action guns a decade back in Kashmir.The gas agency for Insha was sanctioned by the government in 2018, but no further action was taken to actualise it.Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Food Supplies and Consumer Affairs Satish Sharma announced the decision on Thursday."Justice delayed but not denied. Insha Mushtaq lost her eyesight to pellets in 2016; her LPG distributorship was sanctioned in 2018 but left incomplete. Under HCM OmarAbdullah, we've approved release of the Rs 41.16 lakh balance to finally take this case to its logical conclusion," he said in a post on X.Justice delayed but not denied. Insha Mushtaq lost her eyesight to pellets in 2016; her LPG distributorship was sanctioned in 2018 but left incomplete. Under HCM @OmarAbdullah, we've approved release of the Rs41.16 lakh balance to finally take this case to its logical conclusion. - Satish Sharma (@satishsharmajnk) July 30, 2026J&K's Pellet HorrorInsha Mushtaq is often remembered as the face of 'pellet horror' in Jammu and Kashmir. At 14, she was struck by a barrage of pellets that permanently blinded her.Hundreds of people in Kashmir valley have suffered lifelong impact, including loss of eyesight, due to pellet gun injuries but are reluctant to speak.While the largely peaceful situation in the area has stopped the use of pellet guns in the valley for some time now, hundreds of victims like Insha stand witness to how lethal they can be.In 2016, Kashmir saw one of the most extensive uses of pellet guns. Of 12,000 people who were injured, at least 6,000 were hit by pellets during periods of unrest. Hundreds of them lost their eyesight.The youngest victim of pellets at the time was one-and-a-half-year old child, Hiba.Foreign media called it an "epidemic of dead eye".During the July 2016 incident that changed her life, 14-year-old Insha was not even a protester. She was sitting by the window of her house and preparing for her Class 8 examination when a barrage of pellets hit her. Multiple surgeries could not restore sight in both her eyes.She is 24 now. She does not know much about the use of pellet guns in the recent youth protest in Delhi's Jantar Mantar. However, she expressed disappointment that not many people raised their voices for the pellet gun victims of Jammu and Kashmir."People raised their voice when pellet guns were used in Delhi, but no one raised it when pellet guns destroyed the lives of so many children in the Kashmir valley," Insha told NDTV.She has not abandoned her studies despite losing her eyesight. Today, 10 years since the day she was shot with a pellet gun, she is doing her graduate studies in Braille and also using assistive technologies like screen-reading. She said her parents motivated her to continue studies and a non-profit helped her in the journey.She said she can never forget July 11, 2016 when pellets fired by security forces changed her life forever. She suffered 100 pellet wounds on her body including severe facial and cranial bone fractures.Insha's case was one of the few that received government aid. The then state government led by Mehbooba Mufti gave a job to her father, Mushtaq Ahmad. The family says the government had also allotted a gas agency to Insha but it has only remained on paper till now.Pellet guns were introduced in Jammu and Kashmir in 2010. The weapon was billed as a less lethal option to live bullets.