A CRPF jawan who claims to have lost a relative in the recent attack in Sukma vented his frustration on Facebook in a rant against Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
Pankaj Mishra is posted in the force’s 221 battalion stationed at Durgapur in West Bengal. A quick glance through Mishra’s Facebook profile shows regular posts of CRPF men in distress. The posts include graphic images of CRPF men who have committed suicide.
“They should not forget that these CRPF jawans provide security to leaders like Amit Shah. We voted for Modi ji and not BJP, and leaders like Rajnath Singh are misleading the Prime Minister,” he said, requesting the Home Minister to meet the family members of slain soldiers.
He requested the media to understand the pain of the CRPF jawans.
“Ask jawans what are their problems, and not the ‘defence specialists’ who question the training programmes of the paramilitary forces,” he added.
In response to the video, the CRPF said in a statement:
The statement given by the Jawan (Constable GD Pankaj Kumar Mishra of 221 Bn, CRPF) in the purported video is false, baseless and far from the truth.
The CRPF response added that the video is "tantamount to indiscipline and does not behove a member of a discipline Force".
When the Govt and the Force has always been highly concerned about safety, welfare and morale of the men, such disconcerting statements are not in keeping with the highest traditions of the Force... Strict disciplinary action would be taken against the person concerned as per the Conduct Rules of the Force.
A graduate from Veer Kunwar Singh University in Ara, Mishra, who joined the CRPF in 2013, told The Quint that he was ready to face the actions CRPF would take for posting the video.
This is the latest in the series of videos posted by men in the armed forces about the problems they face. In January, BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav’s video on the low quality of food given to jawans went viral. He was dismissed from duty last week after an inquiry.
Lance Naik Yagya Pratap Singh of the army, in yet another video on social media earlier this year, alleged harassment by superiors for writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the problems soldiers faced.
In fact, Mishra had backed Yadav’s claim about poor food quality. Talking to the Times of India, he said that CRPF jawans are facing similar exploitation at the hands of the officers.
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