Indian soldier flouts army chief's warning in song about tough working conditions

A video of an Indian army’s Sikh soldier surfaced on Monday, which showed the army man voicing resentment through a Punjabi song over bad living conditions, only a day after the Indian Army Chief warned soldiers against posting grievances on social media.

The video, latest in the series of social media complaints exposing bad facilities provided to army men, shows a number of Indian army personnel standing in a circle while a Sikh soldier sings in native Punjabi.

The crux of the video narrates ordeal of the soldiers through a song. The army man complains how politicians sleep sound and safe while soldiers remain vigilant on duty.

The Sikh soldier lamented how others dine at fancy, lavish restaurants while he and his fellows live off pickles and bread.

“The woman who is married to us, she feels neither married nor unmarried,” one of the song’s verses stated.

Indian Army Chief Gen Rawat had spoken against the ongoing trend of Indian army personnel taking to social media over dire living conditions. He had reportedly said that if any soldier has any grievance, he should approach the appropriate forum over the matter, or even contact him personally.

The latest video does not provide a proper introduction of the soldier, it remains unclear when and where it was shot, unlike the previous videos.

Earlier, Lance Naik Yagya Pratap Singh who was posted in the 42 Infantry Brigade in Dehradun, recorded a video clip in which he said that after he wrote a letter to the Indian Prime Minister and other officials complaining to them about the misconduct of senior army officials, his brigade was called by the PMO who ordered an inquiry into the matter.

The soldier said that he faced harsh behaviour afterwards and he lives in fear of court martial.

In his video, he had said how the junior officers are made to polish shoes, walk dogs and clean officers’ cars. Wife of lance Pratap Singh, has been on a hunger strike in Rewa city for the past four days now.

"My husband joined the army for serving the nation and not for doing the household chores at officers’ homes,” Richa Singh said. She also commented on how Yagya Pratap Singh’s health condition is worsening each day, but he isn’t being attended to.

It started when an Indian Border Security Force (BSF) soldier shamed the Modi government by sharing the deplorable conditions they were made to work in, several soldiers from different security forces spoke up about long hours, poor conditions, inadequate time off, and unequal pay.

Earlier, a soldier belonging to the SSB (Sashastra Seema Bal), released a video speaking about the level of inequality in pay, facilities, time-off, and ration quality for personnel of the Army and the central armed police forces.

The video had come shortly after a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) soldier had gunned down four of his senior officers in an apparent row over leave.