The army officer faced both praise and backlash for tying a civilian to the front of his jeep to prevent attacks by stone-pelters
The Indian Army officer, who shot to fame after tying a man to a jeep, has been awarded the Army Chief Commendation Card for sustained efforts in operations in the valley.
Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi, the officer, got extreme reactions on internet after the picture went viral. "Major Gogoi has been awarded Chief of Army Staff's Commendation Card for sustained efforts in counter-insurgency operations," Army spokesperson Aman Anand said.
Gogoi was awarded during Gen Rawat's recent visit to Jammu and Kashmir.
While many denounced his move to use a human shield, people in the Defence establishment hailed the move as one that prevented violence in the Valley.
The video became a topic of debate after the man, identified Farooq Ahmad Dar, was tied to the vehicle after casting his vote during the Jammu & Kashmir bye-elections.
At the time, Dar told DNA that he was paraded for 26 km allegedly to keep stone-pelters at bay. He said: "I cannot believe that I am alive. They first thrashed me and then tied me to the bonnet of the jeep and zoomed past several villages.”
Gogoi also received praise from Major General Gagandeep Bakshi, who on his Facebook wall, wrote, They are screaming for the scalp of that young Major Gogoi who tied a stone pelter on his jeep. I think in retrospect that the boy did some out-of-the-box thinking and saved lives on both sides. The standard military solution would have been to shoot the pelters dead. He was authorised to but for some reason our boys seem hesitant to shoot- what with this constant Human rights tamasha. An operation is judged by its end results. He was able to rescue the ITBP boys who were surrounded by a blood thirsty mob. He seized the stone pelter used him as hostage to get safe passage for his column. The Israelis do it routinely. Why can’t we do it? This way no military or civilian personnel was killed. You can always apprehend a stone pelter for interrogation about his links and take him to your post.”
Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh too praised the young officer for showing amazing presence of mind in extreme pressure situation.
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