National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said if the Chinese can "shoot dead" three Indian soldiers during the 'de-escalation process', one can imagine how serious the situation must have been in the first place.
Earlier in the day, the Indian Army said an officer and two soldiers were killed in a violent confrontation with Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh's Galwan Valley on Monday.
According to official sources, there was no firing between the two sides.
"If the Chinese shoot dead an Indian army colonel and two jawans during a 'de-escalation process' imagine how escalated the situation must be in the first place," Abdullah said in a tweet. "This is what happens when the media propagates the government line that asking questions is anti-national," he added.
When pointed out by a Twitter user that there was no firing at Galwan Valley, the National Conference leader said, "So they were beaten to death? That's even more horrific." The Army said there were casualties on the Chinese side as well but the extent of it was not immediately clear.
Former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti said that the nation deserves to know why there is no talk of retaliation to the death of the Army men.
She tweeted, "Seems like China has hijacked the aggressive ‘ghar main ghuske marengay’ militaristic approach. Nation deserves to know why there is no talk of retaliation to avenge the death of three Indian army personnel!"
A large number of Indian and Chinese troops were engaged in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation in Galwan Valley and certain other areas of eastern Ladakh for the last five weeks.
The incident comes days after Indian Army Chief Gen MM Naravane said both sides have begun disengaging from the Galwan Valley.
