The Amnesty International while reacting to the award of Indian Army Major Leetul Gogoi over tying a Kashmiri youth to a moving military jeep as a human shield has said that the move gives the impression that it [Indian Army] condones human rights abuses in the territory.
Aakar Patel, Executive Director at Amnesty International India-chapter in a statement said, “Rewarding an officer who is under investigation for a human rights violation suggests that the Army seems to be willing to not just overlook but actually valorize an act of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment amounting to torture.”
He said that this decision sent the disturbing message to Indian forces’ personnel in occupied Kashmir that the human rights of Kashmiris could be casually ignored without fear of punishment. Authorities should instead be trying to ensure that those responsible, including those with command responsibility, are brought to justice in a civilian court, he added.
Army Major Leetul Gogoi has been awarded the chief of Army Staff’s Commendation Card by the Indian Army Chief, General Bipin Rawat.
Meanwhile, the former General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command, Lieutenant General, Harcharanjit Singh Panag and former diplomat and strategic affairs expert, Krishnan Chander Singh have castigated Indian Army for awarding Major Leetul Gogoi with the Army Chief’s Commendation Card.
Lt Gen (retd) Harcharanjit Singh Panag in his tweet said, “IA traditions, ethos, rules & regs swept away by the “mood of the nation! I stand by my views even if I am the last man standing!” He termed the incident as shame. “Image of a ‘stone pelter’ tied in front of a jeep as a ‘human shield’, will 4 (for) ever haunt the Indian Army & the nation,” Lt Gen H S Panag had tweeted.
Former diplomat Krishnan Chander Singh seconded Panag and assured him that he is not alone. “You ain’t alone. Good folks remain silent. Human shields can’t be used by army of a civilized nation,” Singh tweeted.
Earlier, former General Officer Commanding-in-chief, Northern Command, B S Jaswal, in a debate on a TV channel had termed the action illegal and a violation of laid down military procedure.
Senior journalist and Associate Editor CatchNews, Adiyta Menon, termed the decision of awarding the Major as losing of moral rights.
