'Pakistan group uses disfigured celebrity faces to campaign against use of pellet guns in Kashmir'

More than 100 people have been injured and lost their eyesight because of the use of pellet guns

Pellet guns were first introduced to Jammu and Kashmir police in 2010 during Omar Abdullah government. The use of such guns, however, has shot to the forefront after protests against the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani saw the use pellets for crowd control.

Media reports claim more than 100 people have been injured, many of them blinded, because of the use of pellet guns.

Now, a website Called 'Never Forget Pakistan' has uploaded photoshopped images of celebrities on Facebook, showing what they would look like if they had been injured by the pellet guns. Some of the celebrities are Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Mark Zuckerberg, Virat Kohli, Hrithik Roshan, Kajol, Saif Ali Khan, Alia Bhatt, Aishwarya Rai, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“This campaign is not about jingoism. It is about trying to create empathy. We live in a sad world where we have to present genuine tragedies in a creative way just to make people pause and think for a moment,” says the post.

'Never Forget Pakistan' is a welfare society which works to create positive narratives and do advocay on human rights.

The captions used in each of the photos is meant to describe the alleged atrocities which Kashmiris have faced during the protests that have rocked the Valley since July 7 after Wani’s death.

“You know these faces. Does that make the tragedies more important? The stories in the letters are real. The names signed under the letter are real. Just the victim you see in the picture is not real. But do you care what is the profile of the victim for you to sympathise and empathise with them? For you to speak for them? Why do we need to glamourise a tragedy in order for people to pay attention. Have we all become that numb?” the Facebook post questions.

The post also said the campaign is designed to highlight the atrocities and abuses carried out by the J&K Police and Indian armed forces, which enjoy immunity under the Armed Forced Special Powers Act (AFSPA).

The post also condemns the policy of Facebook itself, which it alleges censored posts highlighting atrocities against Kashmiris and claims later covered it up by calling it a 'mistake.'