Updated: December 16, 2020 7:51:18 am
During the farm law protest outside the DC office in Bathinda on Monday. Harmeet Sodhi
The presence of a man in an army uniform participating in the farmers’ protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Bathinda on Monday has prompted intelligence agencies to try to determine his true identity and confirm whether he is a serving soldier or an impostor. .
In photographs, printed in newspapers and shared several times on social media, the Sikh man is seen holding a sign that reads “My father is a farmer. If he is a terrorist, I am also a terrorist ”. He wears a combat uniform with a jacket and a camo scarf wrapped around his face. His attire appears to be the standard army uniform, which also features a name tag on the jacket.
Aside from this man, there is also a video circulating on social media in which two Army jawans with an AK-47 type weapon are talking about actor Kangana Ranaut’s comments about farmers, which generated controversy.
In the video, the Jawan who speaks in Punjabi declares that they too are the children of farmers and will not tolerate anything bad being said about their mothers.
In reaction to the photograph of the ‘jawan’ holding the banner, Lt. Gen. HS Panag (retd), former GOC-in-C Of Northern and Central Commands tweeted: “Not done. Investigate and take disciplinary action ”. Furthermore, he tweeted: “The military has clear rules and regulations. Without obligation”.
Various sources said that there has been considerable apprehension in the official barracks about the impact of peasant agitation on military personnel and that there are strict rules and regulations prohibiting such participation in protests. “We are trying to find out if this young man who has been photographed in an Army uniform is actually a soldier or not. While we cannot do anything about the ex-military who participate in the agitation, however, such behavior on the part of the service personnel cannot be tolerated and will invite strict punishment, ”revealed an Army official on condition of anonymity.
Many ex-military organizations in Punjab have started to actively participate in the protests taking place on the borders of Delhi. While a section of the ex-military associations has announced that they will return their medals, some of the veterans association officials who were spoken to denied that they had such an intention.
Havildar Bhola Singh of the Ex-Military Welfare Union, Bathinda, said her organization has no plans to return her medals. “I have just returned from the dharna on the border of Tikri. We send jathas (groups) of 20 former military personnel every day to participate in the protests. However, we have not decided to return our medals. The decision seems to have been made by a group associated with a political party, “he said.
According to Captain Jaspal Singh of the Indian Veterans Organization, the body has been fully involved in the farmers’ agitation. “Even as I speak with you, we are a group of 1,000 ex-military who are heading towards the Singhu border and we have just crossed Panipat. We are fully participating in the farmers’ protest, ”he said.
When asked if his organization had plans to return the medals that were awarded to them in solidarity with the farmers, Captain Jaspal said there were no such plans. “Why should we return our medals? We have earned them. We sat in freezing temperatures at high altitude and got these medals. No politician was sitting there. Rather, we will force the government to accept our demands, ”he said.
According to SS Lt. Col. Sohi (Retired), Chairman of the Former Military Complaint Cell, Mohali, veterans are not only upset by the way the Center is treating farmers, but also by the recent series of orders from the Chief. of the Defense Staff, General Bipin Rawat.
“Recently, the CDS has proposed increasing the service of soldiers and also reducing the pension by 50 percent on an estimate. This affects the morale of soldiers and veterans and we oppose it. You cannot treat your troops this way and you also need a young army to face the enemy. If Gen Rawat’s proposals are accepted, the government will weaken our armed forces and run a great risk to national security, ”he said.
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