Go, Nitin Gogoi, Go. Neat work. Why ‘dar’ ?
Army Officer Nitin Leetul Gogoi has recently been honoured by the Indian Army for his ‘innovative’ action which saved lives. Gogoi had tied a local kashmiri youth to the army vehicle while trying to rescue poll officials. He acted ‘practically’ when opposed by stone pelting Kashmiri youths. The youths were about to burn down a polling station with civilians trapped inside. Seeing one of the locals tied to the vehicle, the mob/s avoided throwing stones and let the army vehicle / men pass unharmed.
Why the fuss?
Human Rights Activists and the ‘Azadi’ demanding stone-pelters believe Gogoi should not have exposed the local youth, Farooq Ahmad Dar, to danger. Danger of what? Getting hit by stones which the other youths were pelting on the army vehicle.
Is it ok to pelt stones and assault army men who are not authorized to shoot or use force on local Kashmiris? Looks like, to these souls criticizing Gogoi.
What finally happened?
The army vehicle was able to reach the polling station which had been surround by the mob and was able to rescue the officials. The mob was on the verge of burning down the booth. Thus, lives were saved without any harm to Farooq Dar.
Why pick Farooq Dar?
Gogoi claims Dar was one of the leaders of the mob. Dar says he is innocent. He says he is an artisan earning only Rs 3000 per month and needs to support his aged mother too. He says the army had put him to grave danger by using him thus. One wonders why a guy like him (fragile socio-economic situation) is hanging around with stone pelters.
Dar claims he had come to that location to exercise his right to vote as an indian Citizen. This, despite the calls for boycott by pro-Azadi elements. Dar feels cheated because he has now been used as a ‘human shield’.
Is the logic of ‘Human Shield’ tenable?
Rioting youths in Kashmir have used human shields (women and children) to fire or throw stones at the Indian Army. Did Gogoi or his men use Dar in like manner? On the contrary, Dar was used only to protect Gogoi and his team from the locals’ stones….. And to reach the polling booth in time to save the officials. The Army is not authorized to use force or fire against Kashmiri civilians.
What is the long and short of the incident?
It is possible that Dar is indeed a proud and loyal Indian who had come to do his duty as a citizen and vote. But if this were the case, he should have been prouder to have enabled the rescue of polling officials. The fact that he was unharmed proves that he is one of the rioters or that Gogoi’s understanding of the situation was practical or both of the above.
Having said the above, there have also been some incidents (including the infamous Kunan Poshpora atrocity) which will remain a permanent blot. The problem is that a few cases like these (genuine or otherwise) have also been used by vested interests to help fan anti-India rhetoric.
In ending, it is with irony and sadness that we note the following. The youth of Afghanistan is finding huge benefits of associating with/ leveraging India. But our Kashmiri lads are being deluded into destroying their own lives.
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It is a sad commentary on the beautiful state of J&K that a stone pelter and people wanting to break away from India are being praised while the army which is trying it’s best to bring normalcy to the state I’d being termed villains! Also sad is that separatists are being egged on by psuedo liberals while nationalists are being abused and blocked from airing their views. In today’s India you unnecessarily get termed a bhakt if your views are contrary to these left leaning seculars!