BSF constable Tej Bahadur Yadav fired for ‘misconduct’ 

Border Security Force (BSF) constable Tej Bahadur Yadav, who had criticised the quality of food being served to Indian troops by taking to social media in January, was dismissed from service on Wednesday.

“The trial against Yadav by the Summary Security Force Court (SSFC) commenced on April 13 and concluded today,” Dharmendra Parikh, the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the BSF told National Herald.

Parikh informed that Yadav had three months to appeal the sentence to the headquarters.

Tej Bahadur was court-martialled on six charges for posting videos on social media against the norms; levelling false charges against senior officers; bringing bad name to BSF through a series of videos and audio messages; not following laid-down procedure for highlighting his purported grievances; and sitting on hunger strike on two occasions, according to sources.

Yadav’s unceremonious exit from the force means he won’t be able to avail benefits such as gratuity, regular pension, healthcare under government schemes for ex-servicemen and canteen facilities. His children won’t be able to claim ex-servicemen quota for different privileges.

He had posted videos on Facebook in which he alleged ration pilferage in his BSF unit, apart from claiming that poor quality food was being served to jawans guarding borders in snow-bound areas of Jammu and Kashmir. The trooper was taken into detention after his videos went viral on social media, attracting hundreds of sympathetic reactions.

In the aftermath of making public his grievances, Yadav alleged hostile treatment from his superiors prompting him to apply for voluntary retirement. However, his application was rejected and he was, instead, transferred to another BSF unit – the 88th Battalion in Samba district.

In February, the government had come under sharp criticism on social media after an anonymous source from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) was quoted in a PTI report as saying that “BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav had 500 Facebook friends from Pakistan.”

Yadav’s protest also triggered complaints from several other security personnel from the Army, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), who also took to social media. This forced the Union Home Ministry to issue orders asking jawans to refrain from making their grievances public.

Yadav denies BSF’s allegations

In an audio message that he had posted on March 3, Yadav rebutted the allegations of indiscipline, insubordination and alcohol abuse.

“Had there been any truth in their accusations, they would not have given me so many awards and 14 medals,” he said in the audio clip.

Yadav had also demanded a CBI probe into his allegations. “I don’t have faith in the BSF authorities. They have locked me up in an undisclosed room, where I am not allowed to watch news channels, or talk to anyone over phone.”

The besieged jawan had even appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come to his rescue, claiming that he was being “mentally tortured for exposing corruption in the force.”

Yadav’s dismissal ‘vindictive’

There has been a constant outpouring of support for Yadav since he aired his grievances on social media, with many users criticising the BSF authorities and the government for targeting the jawan. The news of Yadav’s dismissal drew similar reactions.

Nalin K Talwar, a retired Air Force veteran and spokesperson of Sabka Sainik Sangharsh Committee, termed the decision to dismiss Yadav as “vindictive”.

“Tej Bahadur was the first jawan to stand up and speak out against corruption in the forces and gave us the evidence. His court-martial seems to be a premeditated and vindictive decision,” said Talwar.

“After punishing the whistleblower, a clear message has been sent across the security forces that jawans must keep mum over corruption by senior officers.”

Journalist Rifat Jawaid criticised the decision, tweeting:

Another Twitter user with the handle ‘Dr Anand Rai’, said:

Yadav’s wife, Sarmila, also reacted sharply – in a video posted on social media – to her husband’s dismissal from the force, as she attacked the authorities for “meting out injustice to my husband for speaking the truth.” Sarmila said that her husband was due to get back home on Thursday.

A Facebook user, S Singh Bishnoi, remarked, “It’s a gift by so-called nationalist government to a patriot who dared to speak truth.”