A Facebook post by a Himachal-based social media influencer casting aspersions on the moral character of Army personnel has drawn the ire of the Armed Forces personnel as well as the society at large, who have termed the comments not only to be in bad taste and malicious but also a manifestation of immaturity and a cheap attempt to grab attention.In a Facebook video post, Ishita Pundeer had said, “Army men are not loyal to their girlfriends or their wives. They are definitely loyal to their nation, but they can never be loyal to their girlfriends or their wives. I’ve heard of many such cases and girls will agree with me, as 90 per cent of them are not loyal. I am not talking about all of them. Though I have not had any such experience, when they come on leave they have four or five girlfriends.”“Casting such aspersions and making irresponsible off-the-cuff remarks is simply not acceptable,” Lt Col SS Sohi (retd), president of Ex-servicemen Grievance Cell said.“Leave aside some isolated incident that she might have stumbled across, for which effective corrective mechanisms exist within the forces, nobody has the right to tarnish the image and character of Armed Forces personnel or hurt their dignity. She should be hauled before the court and asked to prove her allegations,” he added.Hailing from Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district, Ishita is active on the social media, especially Facebook and Instagram, where she shares posts relating to lifestyle. She has about 35 lakh followers on Facebook and 11 lakh followers on Instagram.“The remark appears rather immature and shaped more by social media narratives than by real-life understanding. In reality, the majority of those who choose military service are among the most respected, grounded and deeply committed individuals — both to the nation and to their loved ones. Loyalty is not selective; it is intrinsic to their character,” Col GPS Virk (retd), a lawyer said. “Perhaps the young lady should first understand a soldier beyond stereotypes in movies — experience that commitment first-hand — before attempting to judge or ‘test’ loyalty,” he added.“The lady has apparently tendered an apology for her comments and the video has been deleted, but the episode is unfortunate. What it seems is an attempt to garner publicity because anything adverse about the Armed Forces tends to go viral on social media,” Major Abhishek Dogra, a short service commission officer now working in the corporate sector said. “Ideally, one should not give importance to such gimmicks or comments made simply out of ignorance or misunderstanding,” he added.While several veterans’ organisations have condemned the video and its comments, the police have also received complaints from various quarters, including local political leaders, which are being perused.