Indian Army deletes tweet on Iftar: Iftar party was organized by army officers in Doda, Jammu. Army officers, jawans and local people also participated in this Iftar party. Army’s Defense PRO in Jammu posted pictures of the festival on social media after which it became quite viral. But after facing criticism from a well known hatemonger. The PRO of the Army (PRO Defense Jammu) later deleted the post.
It was written in the post on behalf of the PRO of the army –“Keeping alive the traditions of secularism, an Iftaar was organised by the Indian Army at Arnora in Doda district.” This tweet was also tagged to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Defense Spokesperson, LG of Jammu and Kashmir, Ministry of Culture and Northern Command of the Indian Army.
However, the gesture of harmony and secularism did not go down with a known Hindutva hatemonger The editor-in-chief of Sudarshan News Suresh Chavhanke did not like this tweet, he retweeted these pictures and wrote, “Ab ye bimari bhartiy sena mein bhi ghus gayi hai. dukhad. (This disease has not infiltrated even in the Indian army. Sad.).” This tweet of Suresh Chavhanke was strongly supported by right-wing Twitter users. Defense PRO Jammu deleted this tweet after criticism.
Images shared by the Defense PRO showed the General Officer Commanding of the Rashtriya Rifles’ Delta Force interacting with local Muslims and a uniformed man offering prayers with civilians at the iftar gathering.
After the tweet was deleted, many journalists and former army officers expressed their disappointment. Defence journalist and writer Man Aman Singh said in his tweet that even the last fort of secularism is staggering.
Former General Office Commanding-in-Chief of the Army’s Western Command, Lt Gen Tej Sapru (Retd), said, “There was nothing wrong with the tweet. It should be vigorously defended. The army conducts iftar in militancy-affected areas as it is an integral part of reaching out to the local population and fighting terrorists. The Muslims of the part of Jammu and Kashmir are more Indians than you or me. The army would do the same thing for any other religion had there been conflict in the area it was dealing with. In fact we do this by reaching out to the Christian population in the Northeast as well. It has nothing to do with religion or politics and is purely a means to fight terrorism by taking people along.”