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Kashmir unrest: With severe tear in cornea of his eye, five-year-old Nasir Khan groans in pain

Nasir has suffered severe tear in the cornea of his eye after he was allegedly thrashed by the security forces in Sherpora village of Anantnag district.

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Nasir Ahmad 5 Year old whose eye was damaged him waits to receive treatment at a hospital in Srinagar
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On a small bed in the crowded eye ward of Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) hospital, five-year-old Nasir Ahmad Khan is groaning with pain. Doctors are trying hard to administer the solution in his eyes but he is holding on to his father to escape the painful medication.

Nasir has suffered severe tear in the cornea of his eye after he was allegedly thrashed by the security forces in Sherpora village of Anantnag district.

Hailing from Kokernag area of South Kashmir's Anantnag district, Nasir was accompanying his parents when the stone pelting started near Sherpora.

"I kept Nasir at one safe place . When I returned I saw blood oozing from his eyes. He told me that the forces hit him and threw sand like material into his eyes", said Mohammad Altaf Khan, father of Nasir.

Fear has gripped little Nasir since the incident. Whenever he sees a crowd he shrieks and holds his father tight. Tears roll down on Altaf's cheeks whenever Nasir cries. Sometimes he takes Nasir in his lap and strolls around the ward. Sometimes he puts blanket on his head. But Nasir remains inconsolable.

Shrieks rent the air as doctors tend to administer medicine. Even the attendants of other patients are unable to hold back their emotions when Nasir cries loudly.

"How can we control our emotions? He is such a cute kid. I wonder how any human being could subject this small kid to such torture. I can't bear it", said an attendant of the neighboring patient.

Even the media had to face the wrath of the people when they tried to interact with the boy and his parents. "How could you be so inhuman? You want to know how it happened. You are encircling him as if there is some exhibition going on. Leave this kid alone. When you cannot help please don't exacerbate his pain", said an angry attendant of another patient warning media to leave or face consequences.

Doctors ruled out pallet injury to Nasir and are optimistic about salvaging his vision. "There is no pallet gun injury. His eye is injured and he has got a tear in the cornea. We have fixed that in the first operation. Now after few days we will operate him again and we are hopeful he will regain his eyesight", said a doctor at the ophthalmology department in Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) hospital.

Khurram Parvez, programme coordinator at Jammu and Kashmir Civil Society, said only at SMHS Hospital, Srinagar from July 9 to 22, around 450 persons have been brought from various areas. "Out of these 450 persons, 142 have eye injuries. 123 persons have gone through eye operations and among them 40 have both eyes affected. Doctors worry that many of the eye injured may lose their eyesight", he said

Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) president Dr Nissar ul Hassan said hundreds of people in recent civil unrest have been blinded and some of them might need transplants to restore their vision.

"Ocular trauma is one of the major causes of corneal blindness and the only viable option for them is corneal transplantation. J&K hospitals lack equipments, infrastructure and trained staff for eye transplantation. There are no eye banks which are critical for retrieval and storage of eyes from brain dead donors. By not having eye transplant facility, patients are deprived of Right to Sight," he said.

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