Whistleblower Army jawan Ajmer Singh’s wife approaches police

An Army jawan, who had accused his superiors of corruption in a video in January, is being persecuted for raising his concerns in the first place, claimed the wife of complainant Naik Ajmer Singh.

Singh’s wife Sumit Devi filed a complaint at a police station in Deharadun on Friday, in which she alleged that her husband’s life was in danger. A senior official at the Clement Town Police Station told National Herald that Sumit Devi’s complaint had been forwarded to the District Magistrate for “future course of action”.

According to the official, Sumit Devi’s complaint alleges that her husband was transferred to another unit, 177 Medium Regiment, from 326 Field Regiment to “influence” the Court of Inquiry instituted against him after he had voiced his allegations.

Devi apparently wants the inquiry against her husband be carried out in his previous 177 Medium Regiment to ensure a “fair trial”. She is also asking the government to “ensure that no untoward incident happens to him during this period.”

The allegations by Singh’s wife surface less than a week after a trooper from the Border Security Force (BSF), Tej Bahadur Yadav, was dismissed from service after he had taken to social media to complain about poor food quality being served to jawans posted in the border areas.

Jawan takes swipes at the Army Chief, Minister

The lengthy video that runs more than 75 minutes was uploaded on the internet by Singh on January 26. He takes potshots at current Army Chief General Bipin Rawat for supposedly “dissuading” soldiers from airing their plaints against seniors on social media. Singh even attacked Minister Rijiju for dubbing the issues raised by jawans on social media as “inconsequential”.

Singh apparently also defended the dismissed BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav in his video, saying that soldiers were forced to take to social media as a “last resort.”

Critical of the ‘sevadar’ system

Singh goes on to lament in his video about the British-era sevadar system – or the “buddy system” where low ranking soldiers are assigned to senior officers. The high-ranking “corrupt officers have made the life of jawans a living hell”, he alleged.

Incidentally, The Times of India had reported earlier that the government was planning to implement the Army proposal to replace soldiers with “non-combatants or service assistants” in peace stations. That change is still awaited though.

He alleges that an officer is “addicted to a comfortable life” and needs “four jawans to fetch him a glass of water". He asks in his video: “Will he listen to or understand the problem of a jawan?”

Singh further accuses the officers of looking after their own economic fortunes at the expense of the soldiers’ welfare.

Singh wanted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to look into the concerns raised by him, remarking that nobody “thinks about the plight of jawans”.

“I want the misappropriation of funds, provisions and other supplies meant for jawans in armed forces, be investigated by the CBI,” he said.