I respect his words 'very much': Army chief on Hooda's remark on surgical strike being overhyped 

A day after Lt General (retired) D S Hooda opined that the Surgical Strike was overhyped and politicised,  Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said that Hooda was one of the main persons involved in the conduct of the operations and he respects his words ''very much''. 

''These are individual person's perceptions so let's not comment on them. He was one of the main persons involved in the conduct of these operations so I respect his words very much,'' said Rawat said when asked about Hooda's remarks.

When asked about Army soldier Jitendra Malik, a suspect in Bulandshahr violence, Rawat said if there is some evidence and police feels that they suspect him, then we will produce him before them. We will fully cooperate with the police. 

Speaking to ANI, Hooda said, "I do think there was too much hype over it. The military operation was important and we had to do it. Now how much should it have been politicised, whether it is right or wrong is something that should be asked to politicians."

Responding to Hooda's remarks, GOC Northern Command, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh said the surgical strike is one of the options available to Army. It had a positive effect on the country, we’ve been able to curb terrorism to a great extent