Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi on Tuesday wondered why there was “so much noise” about the video showing a man in Jammu and Kashmir tied to an Army vehicle appearing to be used as a “human shield”. Speaking to NDTV, the senior advocate said people should be proud of the Army as they are doing a great job.

“The recent report about a stone pelter tied to an Army vehicle, it helped contain stone pelters and saved the poll officials. Why so much noise?” Rohatgi told the TV channel. He also said those sitting in “air conditioned rooms” do not have the right to criticise the Army.

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Further defending the Army, the attorney general said “peculiar situations require peculiar measures”. Rohatgi also said military operations should not be the subject of discussions on social media, reported Hindustan Times. “The Army should be applauded. They are guarding our northern and north-eastern frontiers admirably,” Rohatgi said on Monday.

Backing the Army “a 100%”, Rohatgi said since the security personnel got away without hurting anyone, it was a great job done. “If it has to be done again, it should be done again...We are 100 percent backing the Army and the major,” he told News18 in an interview.

The man who was tied to the Army vehicle was identified as Farooq Ahmad Dar, a resident of Chil Bras village, and the Army unit involved in the incident is believed to be the 53 Rashtriya Rifles. The incident was caught on camera on April 9, when bye-elections to Srinagar’s Parliamentary seat were held.

As the Army jeep patrolled the streets of Kashmir, a note pinned on Farooq Dar’s chest allegedly warned people that this “would be the fate of stone pelters”. The video went viral on social media and invited widespread condemnation. On April 13, the Jammu and Kashmir police filed an FIR at the Beerwa police station in Budgam district, where the video was believed to have been shot.