They forced us to chant Pakistan Zindabad: Odisha jawan attacked on election duty during Srinagar bypoll
Vicky Biswakarma, who hails from Khetarajpur in Odisha's Sambalpur district, was beaten up by a mob in Nassarullahpura area of Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district during Srinagar bypolls on April 9.
In Short
- I was in-charge of the security of EVMs during Srinagar bypoll, says Vicky Biswakarma.
- The Kashmiri youth forced us to chant anti-India slogans and pelted us with stones, he said.
- I patiently called the control room to inform authorities about the matter: Biswakarma.
Vicky Biswakarma, a CRPF jawan from Odisha among others who were heckled and thrashed by a mob while they were on election duty in Nassarullahpura area of Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district on April 9, has finally broken his silence to narrate the ordeal he went through.
Biswakarma hails from Khetarajpur in Odisha's Sambalpur district. He is currently posted with the CRPF Battalion 50 based in Midnapore district of West Bengal. Biswakarma says he joined he CRPF in 2011 and had served in Kashmir even in 2012.
A video of the poll-bound CRPF team being heckled earlier this month had gone viral on social media resulting in a massive uproar across the country. Biswakarma was one of the jawans seen being assaulted in this video .
"I was in-charge of the security of the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) during the election duty in Srinagar bypoll on April 9. On my way back home, I and my fellow soldiers were harassed and tortured by a group of Kashmiri youths. They shouted anti-India slogans such as 'Go India Go Back' and 'Pakistan Zindabad' and pelted us with stones", said Biswakarma, who is now in Sambalpur on a leave.
NATION HAILS JAWANS FOR EXERCISING RESTRAINT
The entire nation rallied behind the Army and hailed the jawans for not retaliating against the youths despite the ill-treatment they faced.
Biswakarma said, "They (the protesters) kept on raising slogans 'India Go Back' and 'Pakistan Zindabad'. They forced us to join in, but we refused to. We didn't consider it proper to take action against them at that time. We felt it was important to exercise restraint. Keeping my composure, I patiently called the control room to inform the authorities about the matter. I tried to discharge my duties with utmost dedication and will continue to do so until my last breath."
Notably, the video on the assault and heckling of CRPF personnel, who were on poll duty in Chadoora area of the district, went viral on social media leading to uproar across the country. The men in uniform were deployed for bypoll in Srinagar parliamentary constituency.
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