The Army on 22 May awarded Major Leetul Gogoi for having used a ‘human shield’ to curb the violence in the Budgam district of Kashmir, a move that drew both praise and criticism from various fronts.
On Wednesday, noted historian and columnist Ramachandra Guha took to Twitter to dissect the events that had lapsed since the Gogoi controversy unfolded.
Terming the the Army’s act of awarding Major Gogoi as ‘counterproductive’, Guha also said that the institution was ‘undermining democratic norms’ by getting the Major to silence critics through a sudden spurt in television appearances.
in an exclusive interview with NewsX, Gogoi disputed the human shield’s identity as an ‘innocent poller’, instead calling him an ‘instigator of the pelters’.
It was a quick decision, I didn’t even fire any bullets... I ended up saving a lot of lives.
While the Major has received praise from various forums for his ‘quick thinking’, including Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who said that the officer be given a medal for his ‘tough action’, his action has drawn a lot of flak as well.
Former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah condemned his act, terming it a violation of the Geneva Convention, which had ironically saved India in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case.
Major Gogoi also received criticism from human rights activists and other parties for having forcefully tied a person to the jeep, and reportedly driving through 23 villages in the district in an effort to ‘curb violence’.
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