Major Leetul Gogoi, was left with no other option, as a large number of people had started pelting stones on soldiers who had gone to a polling booth to check security arrangements. He was forced to user Farooq Ahmad Dar, as a human shield, to save nearly 12 lives, in order to get away from a furious mob armed with stones and petrol bombs.
Major Gogoi was later awarded the Chief of Army Staff’s Commendation Card for sustained efforts in counter-insurgency operations.
His quick thinking had saved many lives, but apparently this heroic act did not go well with a section of the society. He had been on the hit list of few for quite a while now, the latest propaganda against only makes this hit job very obvious.
The first propaganda on twitter was probably started by Shehla Rashid based on a tweet from the user Nazir Masoodi (@nazir_masoodi).
While Nazir had mentioned, “Locals caught an Army major along with a girl in a Srinagar hotel, handed them over to police station Khanyar.Police say legal proceedings have been initiated. Major is posted at Beerwah area of Budgam district.”, Shehla Rashid was quick to link Major Gogoi into this scandal and apparently mentioned the Major as a General. In an apparent excitement to link Major Gogoi with a scandal, she mentioned the Major as a General, funny isn’t it?
This tweet is no longer available in Shehla Rashid’s timeline, it is safe to assume that she must have deleted this tweet. Also she was quick enough to re-tweet another source which had used the word allegedly.
Army commended the illegal 'human shield' act by Major Gogoi. Now he's allegedly been found with a minor girl at a hotel in Srinagar. This culture of impunity must end. https://t.co/XPgOAmEItd
— Aditya Menon (@AdityaMenon22) May 23, 2018
Army should give him another award for trying to abuse a minor girl. Since they're awarding him for crimes anyway. https://t.co/tmymjYD86F
— Shehla Rashid (@Shehla_Rashid) May 23, 2018
As per the time series, the next hit job was done by Sagarika Ghose. This is not the first time Sagarika had lied on twitter and she has not yet deleted this tweet, so it is safe to assume that Sgarika was just aiding to the task of defaming Major Gogoi successfully.
In Detail: Major Gogoi caught with teenage girl in a hotel, police orders probe https://t.co/7fHJy69KnJ via @tkwmag
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) May 23, 2018
Another curious tweet which raises several questions was the one directed to Barkha Dutt by a twitter user Aditya Kalsotra (@adityaspeaks_).
Barkha there was no sex . They were not allowed to get in the hotel by the manager . While going out of the hotel after being denied entry , a local picked up a fight with major Gogoi and that’s when police came and age of girl is not confirmed . So please act responsibly. Thanks
— Aditya Kalsotra (@Adityaspeaks_) May 23, 2018
While the earlier tweet in which Barkha Dutt alleges the girl to be a minor on this issue was deleted, we are not sure if there were more such tweets which probably had been deleted as well.
Several unverified propaganda portals with malicious intents, Rising Kashmir, The Kashmir Wala, and Global Kashmir ran a story on this issue, but all these websites have been exposed by OpIndia. They have subsequently updated their articles as expected.
The title of each report contradicts the other, while some report girl as minor some does not. Few even reported that Major Gogoi and the minor girl were caught in a compromising position, which too lacks evidence at the moment. Let us now consider a report from Outlook, where it title of the news is “Major Gogoi Detained With Girl From Srinagar Hotel”.
Outlook mentions that the girl was stopped at the reception and the police was called. How does this makes it an compromising position when girl never met Major Gogoi.
The news ia apparently so important to Outlook that it is keen to promote it on Facebook. Finally Indian Twitterati had come out openly in support of Major Gogoi, and our Journalists simultaneously started their rants about the Sterlite protests that are happening in Tamil Nadu.
https://twitter.com/MajorPoonia/status/999322790259036160?s=19
There is concerted effort on social media by individuals to tarnish image of Maj. Letul Gogoi by saying that he was found in compromising position with an underage girl. This fake news is malicious propaganda to discredit army. First they accused Maj Aditya of murder & now this.
— Major Gaurav Arya (Retd) (@majorgauravarya) May 23, 2018
Fake news to tarnish reputation of Maj. Gogoi started in Srinagar where e-stone pelters made it viral. Soon, that special breed of Delhi-journalists whose idea of Kashmir is limited to Dal Lake & Geelani’s house, started repeating this without any confirmation or proof. Shame.
— Major Gaurav Arya (Retd) (@majorgauravarya) May 23, 2018
Maj Gogoi was at hotel reception & girl was near gate. She was accompanied by other men & all were to meet. They did not go beyond the reception. Ever since Maj Gogoi took that stone pelter for a joy ride on his jeep, Burnol has been in short supply in certain parts of Srinagar.
— Major Gaurav Arya (Retd) (@majorgauravarya) May 23, 2018
This is a lie and propaganda being spread by certain forces, Sir. Major Gogoi has not been arrested or detained. He is with his Army unit. An Army officer or for that matter even a cop can meet his sources anywhere and often need to change their occupation etc for such meetings. https://t.co/UQ4XSGvLRK
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) May 23, 2018
There is certainly too much misinformation floating around in twitter to suggest that this was a true incident, we certainly need to wait for official confirmation from the Indian Army to understand what exactly had transpired. But one thing is clear, many Journalists and activists have a clear intent to defame Major Gogoi based on an unverifiable incident.
This article has been jointly written by Deepak Aswale and Prakash R.
