New Delhi: BSF jawan Tej Bahadur, whose Facebook video alleging poor quality food at the Jammu and Kashmir station triggered a big controversy, has put out another video, this time alleging persecution by the force.
The latest video seems to be the last straw with the Union Home Ministry considering strict action like dismissal from service against the jawan. The ministry feels that public opinion is in favour of Tej Bahadur and action like dismissal will have its backlash, at the same time, allowing him to breach discipline repeatedly will have negative impact on the force.
The video has been posted on the Facebook page of Swaraj Samachar, where Bahadur is seen alleging that his mobile has been seized and also alleged “mental torture".
“I have got to know that my phone has been misused. I want to let the Prime Minister know that my video about poor quality food being given to soldiers was real... Now, I am being mentally tortured," he says in the video.
“The PM wants to end corruption in the country... I wanted to expose the corruption in my department," he says.
The BSF headquarters in Delhi confirmed that the person in the video is Tej Bahadur. "It appears the video was shot in the third week of February when the jawan’s wife visited him. His mobile was taken away as it was evidence in the case," a BSF officer told CNN-News18.
In the latest video, Tej Bahadur has alleged that his phone is being “tampered with" to prove that he has “links" to Pakistan. “Phone mein Pakistan ke dost bataye jaa rahe hain..."
CNN-News18 has learnt that both the BSF and the Ministry of Home Affairs have serious doubts that Tej Bahadur is airing his grievances on social media purely because no one is listening to him.
"His Facebook page shows a few Pakistanis on his friend list. We are investigating if any one tried to influence him," a top MHA officer told CNN-News18. "Instances of Pakistani moles honey-trapping our jawans and then forcing them to say or act in a particular way is not new. So we have to investigate," a BSF source said.
A top official in the Home Ministry, to which all paramilitary forces report, told CNN-News18 that he would have recommended the dismissal of Tej Bahadur for continually flouting the rules and posting videos on social media.
"We don't interfere in day-to-day management of the force. That is the BSF DG’s prerogative. But if I were the DG, I would have dismissed him. You can't breach discipline repeatedly," the official said.
A BSF officer said, "Not everyone from DG to Home Secretary can be an enemy of Tej Bahadur. We reached out to him after the first video. Yet, he is going public again and again. Force discipline is of paramount importance."
The Home Ministry is also considering banning the use of smartphones in all paramilitary forces. Tej Bahadur had used his smartphone to record the first video.
In the video he posted in January, Tej Bahadur alleged that poor-quality food with hardly any nutrition was being served to the soldiers and the food ration meant for the jawans was being siphoned off by “seniors". The BSF in its preliminary enquiry had dismissed Bahadur's allegations. The final enquiry report is expected in three weeks.
Comments
0 comment