Opinion BSF rejecting VRS plea of jawan who posted video on social media seems a vindictive stand

Yadav alleged in his post that several officers were siphoning off money meant to pay for the food of jawans and on many occasions they had to go to bed empty stomach.

BSF grievances, BSF jawan grievances, BSF help, BSF jawan on social media, BSF complain on social media, BSF ill-tratment, Indian army, indian express news

Kanishka Singh

New DelhiFebruary 2, 2017 04:36 PM IST First published on: Feb 2, 2017 at 03:24 PM IST

BSF jawan Tej Bhadur Yadav

The Border Security Force (BSF) has again come out to do something we didn’t expect it to do. The force has cancelled the voluntary retirement from service (VRS) application of constable Tej Bahadur Yadav who had some time ago posted a video on social media showing that jawans were being served substandard food. It draws an apathetic picture of the force painting it as a vindictive body bent on clamping down a protesting voice.

Yadav alleged in his post that several officers were siphoning off money meant to pay for the food of jawans and on many occasions they had to go to bed empty stomach. Yadav serves in the BSF’s 29th battalion based in Jammu and Kashmir.

It would be naive to say that he would post a video on social media to gain celebrity status or that was a way to get his 15 minutes of fame. A serviceman went out of the known disciplinary protocol and took to social media to protest against alleged wrongdoing. It is obvious that BSF has much more serious and important matters to handle and focus on. Instead of solving.the issue, it is clinging on to it as if punishing a dissenting serviceman is necessary to discourage such complaints.

Discipline comes from order. Hierarchy is taken as sacrosanct in armed forces as well. But, instead of taking the issue in humility and taking care of members at each level, the BSF has strayed away from the issue Yadav flagged and instead has shifted to his ‘daring attempt’ to expose the situation jawans survive in.

The act was taken for gross indiscipline by Yadav’s superior officers and the issue reached the highest ranks of the armed forces that laid their criticism on Yadav. According to Sharmila Yadav, her husband Tej Bahadur was supposed to return on January 31 but he didn’t and she claims that her husband is under arrest and is being subjected to mental torture.

Sharmila told ANI “He (Tej Bahadur)later called up saying he had been asked to retire. However, even that was cancelled within an hour and later he was arrested.” She added that her husband called her from someone else’s phone and he had informed her that he was being threatened and mentally tortured.

BSF, meanwhile, cleared their stand denying the allegation that they had taken Yadav under arrest. “Yadav was not under arrest and his voluntary retirement has been cancelled pending the COI (Court of Inquiry) and finalisation of its recommendations”. BSF said it had informed Tej Bahadur on the evening of January 30 that his application seeking VRS had been cancelled.