Several Army veterans came forward in support of soldiers after a viral video showed a woman causing ruckus at the Minimarg checkpoint in Kargil, Ladakh.
Mizoram Governor and former Army Chief General VK Singh (Retd) on Thursday said that the criticism should be based on facts, not emotion or sweeping accusations. He added that the incident is a stark reminder of the courage, sacrifice and vigilance of our soldiers and said that unfairly blaming or disrespecting soldiers is wrong.
“India’s armed forces stand between our nation and those who seek to harm it. The Minamarg incident is a stark reminder of the courage, sacrifice and vigilance of our soldiers,” he wrote on X.
“Whatever the circumstances, unfairly blaming or disrespecting our soldiers is wrong. Criticism should be based on facts, not emotion or sweeping accusations. We stand with those who serve and sacrifice for India.”
His reaction came in response to a video going viral on social media, purportedly of a woman shouting and creating a ruckus at the Minimarg checkpoint in Kargil, Ladakh. She was among several tourists waiting to cross the barricaded area.
Former Chinar Corps Commander, Lieutenant General KJS Dhillon (Retd) also reacted to the incident in a post on X, defending the soldiers deployed in the area.
Reacting to the woman’s “our taxes pay their salaries” remark, Dhillon said that the soldiers pay their taxes in advance even before they receive their salaries.
“Soldiers pay their taxes in advance, even before they get their pay. You can go for vacation to such areas because our soldiers are guarding it day and night, even at the cost of their lives.”
He urged the woman in the video to be a good law abiding citizen before asking for entitlement.
“Your Language is the reflection of good parenting & schooling. Be respectful always. Learn to be a good law abiding citizen before asking for entitlement. And lastly ….”Get Well Soon”
Another former Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen Lt Gen Satish Dua (Retd) said the comments made by the person in the video was a degradation of the sacrifice of soldiers.
“Army salaries are paid from our taxes,” said a female tourist in Ladakh where traffic was being regulated. Don’t know more details but this comment is a degradation of the soldiers’ sacrifice. Army personnel also pay taxes. Being a border area, Ladakh has security sensitivities,” he posted on X.
The video has drawn criticism from all fronts from political leaders to social media users slamming her for the comments she made.
Inside the viral video chaos
A video of a woman yelling at authorities at the Minimarg checkpoint in Kargil went viral on Wednesday, triggering outrage. The clip was from July 25, when the movement of the defence minister and the Army chief along the Zojila-Gumri route led to traffic restrictions in the area, the Times of India reported, citing sources.
HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the report.
Officials said the two were scheduled to travel by air, but bad weather forced them to fly by helicopter to Gumri, from where they travelled by road towards Kargil, according to the report.
The woman, in the video, could be heard saying people travel from far away and spend considerable amounts of money on their trips, only to face “all this”. She was seen arguing with the security personnel at the checkpoint and said that they were tourists, not Kashmiris who, she said, were subjected to such behaviour.
“We are Gen Zs… we will not tolerate this nonsense,” the woman was heard saying.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday also reacted to the video and highlighted the overuse of ‘We are Gen Z’ phrase.
Taking to X, he took a swipe at the growing use of the “We are Gen Z” tagline, likening it to the old-school threat, “Jaante nahin ho mera baap kaun hai?” and warned that turning the phrase into a threat at every perceived slight is the quickest way to erode any goodwill surrounding Gen Z.