‘Real braveheart is Farooq Dar’: Kashmiri journos come in support of man tied to a jeep

The journalists working in the Valley firmly stood behind the Kashmiri man who was tied to a jeep by an army official last month.

Srinagar, May 24: Several journalists working in Kashmir on Tuesday came out in support of the Kashmiri man who was tied to an army jeep in April.

The journalists took to Twitter to convey the "reality" behind the entire episode at a time when Major Leetul Gogoi of 53 Rashtriya Rifles alleged that Farooq Ahmad Dar was instigating the crowd to pelt stones against the army jawans and was thus forced to use the man as a human shield to save civilian lives.

The entire episode of "human shield" once again started hogging the limelight after Major Gogoi was awarded the Army Chief's Commendation Card on Monday.

These are what some of the journalists from Kashmir tweeted in support of Dar:

Dar, who was severely injured in the incident, told local reporters, "Why would I pelt stones when I had voted?" He added that the Election Commission could check whether he voted or not on April 9 Srinagar Lok Sabha bypolls.

The video of Dar tied to the bonnet of an army jeep with a placard shocked several across the country. However, many, including defence experts and politicians, have hailed Major Gogoi for adopting "non-violent" measures to fight stone pelting in the Valley.

Even after the passage of more than a month since the incident took place on April 9, Dar is said to be still suffering from physical and mental trauma. Speaking to reporters after the incident, Dar said that he was not a stone pelter.

The resident of Chil village in Beerwah sub-district said he was caught by the army after he went to cast his vote in the Srinagar Lok Sabha bypolls. He added, "I thrashed severely with gun butts and wooden sticks and in an almost unconscious state tied to the front of the jeep and paraded."

The commendation card for Major Gogoi was given for "sustained efforts" in counter insurgency operations, Army officials said. However, Major Gogoi was not honoured for the human shield incident. In fact, the army is conducting an internal probe into the human shield episode for allegedly violating the 1949 Geneva Conventions.

OneIndia News