Pellet injury in the eye? Rush here,” reads an advertisement pasted on a wall at Shifa Medical Centre, a private, super-specialty hospital in Srinagar. Dr J.S. Guha is a visiting doctor here. His assistant says the number of pellet victims coming in goes up from the usual 25 or so to over 100 every time the doctor visits. In November 2017, the J&K government admitted that around 1,725 people had suffered pellet injuries since July 8, 2016; 395 is the official number of those hit in the eye in 2018 alone. No wonder private hospitals in the Valley use radio, newspapers and hoardings to reach out to pellet victims.
