Days after picture of a man in Army uniform participating in the farmers’ protest in Punjab’s Bathinda went viral, the intelligence agencies have been trying to ascertain his true identity and confirm if he is a serving soldier or an imposter.
The development came as Lt Gen HS Panag (retd), former GOC-in-C of Northern and Central Commands, wrote on Twitter that the matter should be investigated. He added that the Army has clear rules in place as regards serving personnel taking part in such events.
Notably, there is nothing that bars ex-servicemen from taking part in agitations.
“Not done. Investigate and take disciplinary action. Army has clear rules and regulations. No compromise,” he said in two sets of tweets.
In photographs, printed in the newspapers and shared multiple times on social media, the Sikh man is seen holding a placard which says “My father is a farmer. If he is a terrorist then I am also a terrorist”. He is wearing a combat pattern uniform with a jacket and a camouflaged scarf wrapped around his face. His attire appears to be the standard Army uniform, which also displays a name tag on the jacket. He stood outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Bathinda on Monday.
यह तस्वीर डरावनी है !@rwac48 @sandythapar pic.twitter.com/ujBrcfaQck
— SHAHEED (@SHAHEED15081947) December 14, 2020
Apart from this man, there also is a video circulating on social media in which two Army jawans holding a AK-47 type weapon are speaking with regard to the comments by actor Kangana Ranaut on farmers, which attracted controversy.
In the video, the jawan speaking in Punjabi declares that they too are sons of farmers and will not tolerate anything wrong being spoken about their mothers.
ANI
Many ex-servicemen organisations in Punjab have started taking active part in the protests taking place on the borders of Delhi. While a section of the ex-servicemen associations have announced to return their medals, some of the veterans’ associations office bearers spoken to denied that they had any such intention.
According to Capt Jaspal Singh of Indian Veterans Organisation, the body has been taking full part in the farmers’ agitation. “Even as I am speaking with you, we are a group of 1,000 ex-servicemen who are headed towards the Singhu border and have just crossed Panipat. We are taking full part in the farmers protest,” he said.
The identity of the man in Army uniform hasn’t been ascertained yet.