KEEP ARMY OUT OF CONFLICT
It is sad that the Indian army was trolled for sharing a message on holding Iftaar in Doda District because the army has the tradition of being unbiased towards the faiths of the different communities. It is pertinent to mention that Army’s tweet about holding of an ‘Iftaar’ party for the civilian population in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district was removed after trolling allegedly by ‘extremist’ elements who felt offended by the pictures highlighting the secular character of the armed forces. PRO Defence’s Twitter handle had shared a message keeping alive the traditions of secularism, an Iftaar was organized by the Indian Army at Arnora in Doda district. It was accompanied by several photographs showing the Army and civilian breaking the Ramzan fast together however, reportedly the tweet, which was uploaded on April 21, was deleted within hours after the handle came under attack from the trolls who were apparently against the secular character of the Army, a practice followed by the force which holds ‘Sarva Dharma Sthal’ , a place of worship for all religions in all its formations across the country. This has nothing to do with politics as similar Iftaar parties by the Army are a regular feature during the fasting month of Ramzan to build a strong bond with the public. The trolling of the aforesaid message and the way the people criticized the army’s goodwill gesture is really very sad as needless debate has been started and one of the best forces in the world, the Indian army has to succumb before the fringe elements as it deleted the tweet. There is another angle to it as a good number of people have decried the army decision to delete the tweet because the Indian Army has been at the forefront of interfaith harmony but the aforesaid decision has dented the same virtue of the men in green. This incident is also being seen as the end of this tradition of holding Iftaars or at least sharing such messages on social media of print and electronic media thus ending this golden era under the army. The people who have started this controversy should not have involved the army into this conflict because this can have deleterious effects on the nature of the Army.