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These were the words of a BSF official who conducted an inquiry on the BSF jawan, Tej Bahadur Yadav, after he slapped his Commanding Officer (CO) eight years ago. On Monday, the jawan released a video on his Facebook page, which quickly went viral. In the video, he complained about the quality of food and clothing provided to him and other jawans in the BSF. Just ten days ago, he was deployed in Adm Base on the Line of Control (LoC), which is located between Rajouri and Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir.
On completion of the investigation for assaulting a CO of BSF, Yadav was sent into rigorous imprisonment in BSF HQ for 89 days. He slapped his senior because he was unhappy with his working skills. According to a senior official, Yadav felt that all his seniors were corrupt and cheaters.
According to the senior BSF officials, it cannot be denied that Yadav was on long working hours, sometimes as long as 11 hours. The senior official added that it was not just Yadav, but other jawans too who were facing similar problems. It was the requirement of duty and not exploitation, he said.
The government has already ordered an inquiry into the allegations made by Yadav in the video, although there is no stipulated time within which the inquiry must be completed.
According to the BSF official, Yadav too has committed an offence by revealing his location at a sensitive post on the LoC through a selfie video, one for which he may face stringent action.
Yadav joined the BSF in 1996. In the last 20 years, he faced 4 major punishments for; being absent without leave, consuming alcohol while on duty, misbehaviour or indiscipline, and assaulting a senior officer.
His last punishment was rigorous imprisonment for 89 days – for the same offence, he could have been dismissed as per BSF rules. Soon after his release from the BSF prison, he was assigned to sedentary jobs like gardening and plumbing in his Battalion Headquarters. He was assigned to these sedentary jobs for almost 8 years, and just 10 days ago, was posted to the LOC.
Now the question remains, why was he posted to the LOC when he had already applied for VRS, and that too after 8 years of sedentary jobs?
Yadav’s Facebook video posts have opened up a pandora’s box, making the government answerable to many uncomfortable questions on the quality of life provided to jawans posted in difficult terrains. It’s time that the government addresses them, instead of deflecting from the core issues by raising questions about Yadav’s conduct.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)
Published: 10 Jan 2017,08:23 PM IST