'Non-lethal': How India and Israel's brutal use of pellet guns spread worldwide

The use of non-lethal weapons, such as pellet guns, by India and Israel has triggered worldwide concern. While the real danger lies in the precedent their usage sets against civilian protesters, India and Israel's role in exporting these weapons is also alarming. In July 2026, Amnesty International published a report titled "Made in India: the supply of weapons and munitions to Israel" which found India shipped hundreds of thousands of weapon parts and munitions to Israel during its Gaza offensive.

The report warned of the substantial risk these exports carry of contributing to what is termed as Israel's ongoing genocide. The usage of pellet guns in Delhi to control a student's march against an examination scam injury at least 10 civilians, including a young man who may lose his vision forever. This example highlights how the use of such weapons against civilians sets a dangerous precedent.

India introduced pellet guns in 2010 in Kashmir as a 'non-lethal' or 'less-lethal' weapon for crowd control. Between 2010 and 2019, 24 people were killed, 139 blinded and 2,942 injured, of which 1,459 were serious eye injuries. A pellet gun, essentially a .12-bore pump-action shotgun, discharges a cartridge loaded with several hundred metal pellets that scatter over a wide area, striking multiple people simultaneously.

This indiscriminate nature of pellet guns has caused irreversible psychological and physical damage, often leading to blindness, permanent injuries or even death. Despite being tagged as 'less-lethal', the pellets can pierce the skin and embed themselves, causing permanent pain and blindness in some cases. The state's justification of using pellet guns as 'non-lethal' weapons despite the documented evidence of hundreds blinded, scores killed, and many others permanently disabled has been widely accepted.

This has encouraged a mocking attitude towards the victims and trivialized their suffering in popular culture, as seen in the upcoming Bollywood film "Chauhaan". The usage of pellet guns in Kashmir and Delhi also raises questions about the state's accountability. While opposition leaders demand answers about who ordered the pellet guns and why, India's Home Minister, Amit Shah, has not attended parliament, refusing to answer questions.