Justice After a Decade: Pellet Victim Insha Mushtaq’s LPG Agency Finally Gets Government Approval

Srinagar, July 30: A decade after pellets robbed her eyesight, Insha Mushtaq finally receives justice as the Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday announced Rs 41.16 lakh for her LPG agency, sanctioned in 2018.

Food Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Satish Sharma announced the decision, calling it “justice delayed but not denied”.

"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 Omar Abdullah, we've approved release of the Rs 41.16 lakh balance to finally take this case to its logical conclusion," Minister Satish Sharma posted on X handle.

Insha, now 24, was just 14 when pellets fired by security forces struck her as she sat by her window preparing for exams in July 2016. The injuries left her permanently blind, with over 100 wounds and severe facial fractures. Her case then became symbolic of what foreign media described as an “epidemic of dead eye.”

“She should have received this support years ago. The government forgot her until Delhi protests reminded them of pellet horror,” said Abdul Rashid, a neighbour in Sedow village in Shopian.

Despite her blindness, she never abandoned education. Today she is pursuing graduation in Braille and using assistive technologies, supported by her parents and non‑profits.

Her father had earlier been given a government job as part of state assistance, but the promised LPG agency remained only on paper. That changed today, when the Jammu and Kashmir government finally announced the release of Rs 41.16 lakh to operationalise the distributorship sanctioned back in 2018. This long‑pending decision, officials said, marks the completion of a commitment that had stalled for nearly a decade.

Pellet guns were introduced in Kashmir in 2010 as a “less lethal” option, but in 2016 alone, nearly 12,000 people were injured, with at least 6,000 hit by pellets. Hundreds lost their eyesight, including the youngest victim;18‑month‑old Hiba.

“The valley has remained largely peaceful in recent years, and pellet guns are no longer in use. Yet victims like Insha continue to represent the devastating impact they left behind. For many, the scars are not only physical but deeply emotional, and they still struggle in silence,” said an ex‑bureaucrat.