Major Gogoi’s award gets some praise and some criticism

Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi became a villain for some and a hero of many overnight, early this year, after the “human shield controversy,” in which Farooq Ahmed Dar was tied to an army jeep as a method to deter stone pelters. Some commended the Major’s presence of mind and others questioned it. Yesterday it was reported that the Army Chief General Bipin Rawat awarded him with a medal of Commendation for his efforts in counter-insurgency operations. Many politicians and other celebrities have commended the army’s decision.

However, soon after the news of the commendation certificate spread, as per an Indian Express report, it has not gone down too well with Dar’s family and National Conference (NC) quite obviously. While Dar’s family deemed it a “mockery”, NC’s spokesperson Junaid Mattu said it is “a slap on the face of the mainstream in Kashmir”. Even as the family was awaiting justice to be done to them, this piece of information shocked them. “My brother was tied to a jeep and taken to dozens of villages, without being at fault. He was not a stone-pelter, nor involved in anything subversive,” Dar’s elder brother Ghulam Qadir told Indian Express. According to Qadir, Dar has been in depression and has confined himself to his room ever since. 

The fact that Major Gogoi got the award despite tying Dar to his jeep has got other parties talking. “The time has come when Delhi needs to understand it is time to win the youth of Kashmir rather than defeat them. And this (award to the officer) doesn’t communicate the message that the youth here want to listen,’’ Jammu and Kashmir PDP youth wing president Waheed Rehman Parra was quoted as saying. “And I want to ask Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti: What happened to the inquiry she had initiated on the incident? They should speak whether this is right or wrong,” Jammu and Kashmir Congress President Ghulam Ahmad Mir said.