Army questions society over girls tour backlash

In the wake of girls of an army- conducted tour of the country being trolled on the social media, the Army today said it is for the civil society to see whether they should be subjected to such trauma.
"When we set out to do the tour, there was no such thing except for a couple of statements. But thereafter, the kind of hate-mail that generated on social media...It is for the society to take it upon themselves that on one hand if they have their opinions, so do these children or their parents and their schools.
"Some of the comments were so low that I don't even want to speak on them. So, it is for the civil society to see whether you should subject such young girls to such trauma," General Officer Commanding (GoC) of Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Lt Gen Satish Dua told reporters here.

Lt Gen Dua said the children or their parents and their school are entitled to their own opinion like those who criticize them.
"On our part, we went ahead with the tour with the aim that we have set for ourselves," he said, adding "we were unmindful of the criticism if not ignorant of what is happening".
The army commander said the force would consider whether any action was needed against the trolls.

"We will have to consider the matter as the tour has ended now and we will see what needs to be done. I am sure that authorities must have taken note of it and I am sure they would be working towards doing something about it," he said.

The girls also thanked the army for providing them an opportunity to witness historical and cultural heritage of the country.
"We had an awesome time. The girls had some great moments together. We thank the army for this opportunity. We witnessed our historical and cultural heritage," a young girl, Fozia, said.
Another girl, Snober, said it was for the first time that she went outside the Valley and it was like a dream come true.
"Train experience was awesome. We also visited many places which we could only have dreamt of. We went to IIT Delhi, Moulana Azad Medical College, Taj Mahal, Rashtrapati Bhavan and Parliament. It was great," she said.

The students also met Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani, some MPs and Nobel laureate Kailash Sathyarthi during their 10-day tour.