Tej Bahadur Yadav, the BSF constable whose video complaining of bad food and near-starvation went viral in January, is back. This time, the jawan alleged he was being persecuted for blowing the whistle and asked PM Narendra Modi if he didn’t deserve justice.
“I exposed corruption in my department since the Prime Minister wanted to fight corruption… I appeal to all to ask the PM why I am being tortured,” Yadav said in the video reported to have been put out by his family.
The jawan also asked people not to believe in false rumours about him, a reference to suggestions from the security establishment that the soldier could have been playing into the hands of their counterparts in Pakistan.
It was also pointed out that he had a large number of Facebook friends from Pakistan, a point that was soon echoed in comments put on his Facebook page where his first video got 9.9 million views and was shared by 4.4 lakh people.
The Border Security Force has set up a court of inquiry against Yadav after the first video surfaced and withdrew its order that accepted Yadav’s request for voluntary retirement. An internal inquiry into the quality of food served to the troops had concluded that the claims about the quality of food were not correct. This view was also conveyed to the Prime Minister’s Office that had sought a report from the home ministry.
Wife, Sharmila Devi, who had moved the Delhi High Court after BSF seized his phone as evidence and transferred him out, had been allowed to meet him later. This is when the fresh video, Tej Bahadur’s appeal, is believed to have been recorded. In this, the jawan also complained how the authorities hadn’t really probed his allegations.
(With Agency inputs)
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