Govt Sends Eye Surgeons to J&K As Hospitals Face Medical Emergency

Specialised surgeons are being rushed to Srinagar to treat eye injuries.

Security personnel guard a deserted street during a curfew imposed by the authorities to maintain law and order following the killing of Burhan Wani. (Photo: PTI)

In the aftermath of Burhan Wani’s killing in an encounter with security forces, the mounting unrest in the Kashmir valley has taken a peculiar turn.

Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets to protest the death of the top Hizbullah Mujahideen commander, who many in the valley regard as “Commander Burhan”, a crusader against oppression.

Security forces have retaliated with aggression and more than 30 people are dead and several are injured. The injured demonstrators warded in hospitals are battling shortages of key medicines, families and volunteers told IANS.

On the request of the Jammu and Kashmir government, the Centre on Wednesday sent a three-member team of eye specialists from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences to assist the state.

Hospitals across the Kashmir Valley, including in Srinagar, have treated hundreds injured due to firing by security forces. The victims have mainly suffered bullet and pellet wounds.

Defying curfew restrictions, the people of Kashmir mourned Burhan Wani’s passing.(Photo: Reuters)

Dozens of youth are in danger of losing their eyesight after getting hit by pellets during the protests.

A government spokesperson said J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti spoke to Health Minister JP Nadda and requested him to send a specialised team of doctors, including retina surgeons.

On the instructions of the Chief Minister, the government is also facilitating shifting of any injured person who needs super-specialised treatment outside the state, in case it is not available locally.

The Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital in Srinagar alone has received more than 100 cases of eye injuries due to pellet guns fired by security forces. According to doctors at the hospital, 107 cases of eye injuries have been reported since Saturday at the hospital.

At the hospital, the notice board in the emergency ward screams of an urgent requirement of vital medicines, including antibiotic injectables like Timentin and Amikacin, which are out of stock.

Volunteers at the hospital reported a shortage of crucial drugs but the head of SMHS, Kaiser Ahmed, told the media that “there is no shortage of drugs”.

The shortage has intensified as all medical shops have been shut in Srinagar after a curfew was imposed to quell protests.

The main market in Tral, Burhan Wani’s hometown is deserted. (Photo: Jehangir Ali)

The volunteers of NGOs like Help Poor Voluntary Trust, Athrout, and others are chipping in to provide medicines to the hospitals in Srinagar.

We have supplied hundreds of strips of Ciplox, eye drop Moxifloxacin, Prednisolone and other vital drugs to the hospitals. We want to ensure that no injured person suffers because of the shortage of medicine.

A Volunteer

The volunteers, many with their clothes bloodstained, have been placed inside every corner of the hospital. Stalls have been set up outside the SMHS hospital to provide refreshments to hundreds of attendants inside.

All that we have eaten so far is from these stalls. No government authority has offered us help.

Aslam Khan, Father of an injured boy

(With inputs from IANS and PTI.)