The defence ministry has deleted a tweet about an iftar hosted by the Indian Army in Jammu, “keeping alive the traditions of secularism”, after it came under attack from hatemongers.
On April 21, the official handle of PRO Defence, Jammu, had tweeted pictures of soldiers breaking bread with civilians with the message: “Keeping alive the traditions of #secularism, an iftaar was organised by the #IndianArmy at Arnora in #Doda District #Ramadan.”
The now-deleted tweet of PRO Defence Jammu. The Telegraph
Among those tagged were the office of the Union home minister, the ministry of culture and the lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
The photographs showed civilians breaking their Ramazan fast with some uniformed personnel at an army facility. In one, an army officer was seen shaking hands with an elderly man and in another a uniformed person was seen offering namaz with the civilians.
Responding to the post, editor-in-chief of Sudarshan News Suresh Chavhanke tweeted in Hindi: “Ab ye bimari Bhartiya sena mein bhi ghus gayi hai? Dukhad…. (Now this disease has entered even the Indian Army? Sad).” Several others, too, echoed him and berated the army.
Chavhanke is accused of delivering a hate speech at an event last December where participants purportedly pledged to “fight, die for and, if necessary, kill” to create a “Hindu Rashtra”.
On Friday, the tweet on the iftar was deleted, causing veterans and other Twitter users to express shock that the defence ministry PRO had chosen to back off rather than take on the trolls.
The defence PRO in Jammu, Lt Col Devender Anand, said he deleted the tweet following “adverse remarks” by some people. “There is nothing more to it,” he told The Telegraph over phone from Jammu.
Contacted, army and defence ministry officials in Delhi did not comment on why the tweet was deleted.
Hosting iftar had been an age-old tradition of the army in Jammu and Kashmir, veterans said.
Veteran Sushant Singh tweeted: “Sad that an institution crumbles so rapidly.”
Another military veteran said: “The army is the last bastion of secularism in India. But now it seems the ultimate aim is to rewrite the Constitution by removing the word secular.”
“What is wrong with holding iftar? It helps the army to reach out to people of a state where the majority are Muslims. The army’s policy has always been to win the hearts and minds of the local population and such a move helps in improving communal harmony in the region,” he said.
“The defence ministry and the army should have defended the tweet rather than succumbing to pressure from bigoted people. They should have taken on the trolls,” he added.
Defending the deleted post, Maj. Gen. Yash Mor (retd) said in a tweet: “Indian Army has been at the forefront of interfaith harmony. We as officers take pride in the fact that we have NO religion, we just adopt the religion of the troops we command!”
Social media user Vivek Prasad tweeted: “@prodefencejammu tweeted images of Iftar organised by Army. A Charlie commented that an ‘illness’ had spread to the Army. @prodefencejammu deleted the tweet. Lesson: Army can’t win hearts and minds if its family jewels are being squeezed by bigoted scum of the Earth.”
On Friday, a group of army veterans had moved the Supreme Court seeking a court-monitored probe by a special investigation team into the alleged calls for genocide against Muslims.
The petitioners said that if left unchecked, such hate mongering could affect the morale of the Indian Army and its battle preparedness as the force draws soldiers from different communities.
On the same day the apex court had rapped Delhi police for claiming on affidavit that no calls for genocide against Muslims had been sounded at the Hindu Yuva Vahini event that Chavhanke had addressed last December.
