Jawans using social media to vent grievances may be punished: Army Chief

Concerned over the recent trend of army and paramilitary personnel posting videos to highlight their problems, the Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat on Sunday said jawans who take to social media to voice their grievances could be punished as their act lowers the morale of those guarding the frontiers of the country. He also said that despite Pakistan’s continuous engagement in proxy war against India, “we want to restore peace on the Line of Control”.

“But we will not hesitate from giving a fitting reply in case of any ceasefire violation,” he asserted.

The Army Chief was addressing the Army Day celebrations here, where he awarded gallantry medals to soldiers who showed extraordinary courage while performing duty.

“If any jawan has any grievance, he has been provided with the proper forum to resolve his issue and maintain a balance. If you are not satisfied with the action, then you can contact me directly,” Gen Rawat said.

“Aapne jo karwai ki hai aap iske liye apradhjanak hain, aur saza ke haqdaar ho sakte hain (You are violating rules by your act and you could be punished for that),” he said, referring to instances of jawans taking to social media to air their grievances.

“It (airing of grievances on social media) has (negative) impact on the brave jawans who are serving the country along the border,” he said.

On the terror menace, he said that in the last few months of 2016, the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir turned very volatile. “Be it LAC (Line of Actual Control) or LOC (Line of Control), we will take the appropriate action and our soldiers are doing a commendable job at all fronts,” he said.

“On the northern front, India wants peace with China. Both sides are adopting confidence building measures (CBMs) so that tension on the border can be reduced. Despite transgressions on LAC, the armies on both sides have improved on mutual coordination,” said Gen Rawat.

“I understand that our competitors are aware of our strengths. While being always ready, our policy is to take action at any place and any time. Our efforts to restore peace on the border must not be viewed as our weakness,” he said, while warning those who try disrupt peace through terror activities.

The Army Chief inspected the parade at Field Marshal Cariappa Parade Ground here. Marching contingents from six different regiments and display of missile systems such as Brahmos and Akash were among the highlights of the event.