NEW DELHI: The five-year ban imposed on senior army officer Ritesh Kumar Singh by Spicejet for assaulting its staff is garnering massive opposition from former army personnel and a section of the public. The news was made public on Tuesday. Social media was on Wednesday flooded with appeals to the Defence Minister, Aviation Minister and the Prime Minister to intervene for the sake of the officer. Appeals to all defence personnel to never fly the airline too were sounded.
Lieutenant Colonel Singh is posted at the High Altitude Warfare School in Gulmarg in North Kashmir.
The incident occurred on July 26 at Srinagar airport when Singh allegedly grievously assaulted four staff of Spicejet when they objected to the excess cabin baggage he was carrying before boarding his flight SG 386 to Delhi. An internal committee set up by the airline, which is overseen by the regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) through its Civil Aviation Requirements (CARs) found the officer guilty of the charges.
A post on X by Shaurya Chakra awardee and former Chief Operations Officer, Indian Army, Major Pawan Kumar (retired) on August 27 on the incident charged that the airline staff manhandled the officer first forcing the officer to stand up for his dignity and that of the airline. The message went viral garnering massive support for Singh. A few also felt the officer deserved to be punished for his behaviour.
The Major posed this allegation – Is the Civil Aviation Ministry hand in glove with Spicejet? He also demanded to know if the Civil Aviation Ministry had reviewed all the videos before permitting Spicejet to take this “draconian decision.”
The awardee posed this rhetorical query: “How is the soldier supposed to travel back home from Srinagar next time with limited options of flights?” adding“This is not acceptable at all. Should serving soldiers go on a strike against this decision?”
Major Pawan Kumar also appealed to the public to take a pledge not to fly with Spicejet and stand with the brave soldier too.
A hashtag #boycottspicejet was initiated. Savitha Rao, founder of India Positive Citizen movement, responded, “Urge all to send mails to the Civil Aviation Minister and MoS. 1,00,000 mails minimum should reach them.” Amit Bhatia, of the narrative hub, TNH Opinions said, “Atrocious…How can you put a serving army officer on the No-fly list? Defence forces need to be granted emergency service or special duty status.?” Col Rajendra Shukla, an army veteran, called upon the Indian Air Force not to give air space to Spicejet to fly in its airfields.
Many responded to the post by stating they have put Spicejet on their No-Fly list.
Political satirist @HeyMrIndian posted, “If he misbehaved with the staff, he deserves this. Army personnel are not above law.” Mukul Bhatnagar posted, “The Spicejet staff was badly injured and was taken to hospital. Lt Col R K Singh should have been arrested. The country owns the army. Always remember. “
Spicejet declined to comment on the raging controversy.
