Srinagar: Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat on Friday banned officers from playing golf in Srinagar, saying the activity cannot be done when the troops are exchanging fire across the Line of Control. In a significant statement, Gen Rawat made it clear that officers cannot play golf when the young officers are facing fire at the LoC on a day-to-day basis.

According to National Affairs Editor, Times Now, Srinjoy Chowdhury, during the Army Chief’s recent visit to Srinagar, an encounter was going on at the border and a game of golf was being played in Srinagar. At that time, General Rawat said golf should not be an activity the Army officers should be involved in.

Notably, the Army, as per a report published in The Indian Expressin 2015, operates around 100 luxury golf courses and sports clubs on approximately 8,000 acres of the government property. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament had in 2013 said that golf could not be taken into consideration as a “military activity”. In 2004, the then Army Chief had listed golf as a ‘sport’.