The Army court of inquiry (CoI) on Monday gave a clean chit to the Army Major who tied a youth to the bonnet of a jeep as a human shield to prevent stone pelting.
What’s the incident?
On April 9, Major Nitin Gogol tied a man to the bonnet of his jeep in order to prevent stone pelting. The images and videos subsequently went viral and received condemnation from various people including former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Here’s the video as well. A warning can be heard saying stone pelters will meet this fate. This requires an urgent inquiry & follow up NOW!! pic.twitter.com/qj1rnCVazn
— Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) April 14, 2017
This young man was TIED to the front of an army jeep to make sure no stones were thrown at the jeep? This is just so shocking!!!! #Kashmir pic.twitter.com/bqs4YJOpJc
— Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) April 14, 2017
What now?
According to India Today, no action has been initiated against the Major. Court Martial is out of question and no disciplinary action will be taken.
Significantly, senior Army officers appreciated his presence of mind for avoiding casualties. The officers believe that it was ‘one-off incident that was blown out of proportion.’
It’s pertinent to mention that the man who was tied to the jeep, Farooq Ahmad Dar was initially claimed to be a stone-pelter by the Army. However, it was later reported that he was in fact returning home after casting his vote and was picked by up jawans and tied to the bonnet so that the Army convoy of 53 Rashtriya Rifles could pass easily from the Budgam area.
(Feature image source: Twitter)
