Criticism of Army Chief General Bipin Rawat's "dirty war" comments continued on Tuesday, with the CPI-M accusing the General of reflecting the government's view and adding that the Army would suffer "irreparable damage" because of this.Academician Partha Chatterjee, who wrote an article comparing the Army Chief with General Dyer also defended his comment, and said he had nothing to add to it.An editorial published in the Communist party of India-Marxist's mouthpiece People's Democracy, which has former CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat as its Editor, said the Army Chief by commending Major Leetul Gogoi's action of using a civilian as a human shield "has let down the high professional standards in the Army".Unfortunately, the army chief is reflecting the views of the Modi government which seeks to suppress the people of Kashmir, who are voicing their political protest, through the sole reliance on use of force. Not only the people of Kashmir but the army itself will suffer irreparable damage due to the government's blind adherence to the use of coercive force against the civilian population," the editorial said.The editorial added that General Rawat made no distinction between young protesters throwing stones and armed militants.
"He had, on an earlier occasion, warned that the army would treat all those who do not support army operations or obstruct them during encounters as 'overground workers of terrorists'," it said.Political theorist and historian Partha Chatterjee, who compared General Rawat with General Dyer who had ordered firing at a crowd gathered in Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar on April 13, 1919 in Amritsar killing scores, defended his comment."Whatever I wanted to say, I have made my arguments clearly and as precisely as I could in my article. I have nothing more to add to it or explain," Chatterjee said.A video, shot on April 9 during the Srinagar by-polls held amid violent incidents, showed a man, later identified as Farooq Ahmad Dar, being tied to the bonnet of an army jeep with a placard in Badgam of Jammu and Kashmir.An Army Chief's Commendation was awarded to the Major Leetul Gogoi, the officer who took the action, even as the final report of an enquiry constituted by the Army in the incident is yet to come.Gen Rawat had in a recent interview defended Major Gogoi's action, calling the situation in Kashmir a "dirty war".