The BSF jawan's video has alerted security agencies to be more prudent, and vigilant, in putting in place response mechanisms for personnel grievances
A highly disciplined, and world's largest border guarding group, the Border Security Force, was jolted recently by an apparent act of indiscipline by a soldier, Tej Bahadur Yadav. In an act that yet again exposed the perils of social media, the ‘disgruntled’ soldier released a video highlighting the plight of the jawans' food.
A bunch of Twitter bullies, apparently always in a delirium of the virtual world, got an adrenaline rush and in no time started to rejoice the unshackling move by the bold Bahadur. The BSF became an instant villain — and even those who have closely followed the rich legacy of the force, including some journalists — exhibited inexplicable hurry in showering their sympathy with the 'dejected' jawan. The culture of cynicism, and the flagrant role of the social media in it, was in full display.
Even as many called this incident as nothing less than a desperate move by a jawan who chose to surpass well-established grievance redressal mechanisms, and instead opted for a social media platform to air his complaint, it did raise some difficult questions. It also laid out contours of the new preparedness that the forces, or for that matter any Government agency, must adapt to. It also brought to fore the compelling need for security forces to comprehend, and embrace the changing idioms of media and public discourse.
Here are three key takeaways from this incident. First and foremost is the tectonic shift that the power of social media has brought about in the way we communicate. For long, media construction and discourse has largely been unilateral. We, as audience, have been passive recipient of the newsroom constructs. In other words, media organisations have been at liberty to use images and messages as per their self-defined norms.
Audiences have had limited role in the construction of news and have had to compulsorily consume and deconstruct the feeds imposed on them from media organisations. Social media has altered this in many ways. Today, the passive audiences have become active in not only decoding, but also in influencing the color and character of news, using the power of social media tools. The feed by Yadav, and the way it triggered a hullabaloo in the media — right or wrong — is an apt example of this.
Second, the incident has brought to fore the urgency with which security forces must deal with a scenario like this. Sensing the same, and in an apparent bid to preempt any rub off on its soldiers, the Army chief asserted that jawans having complaints should follow the protocol, and thereby toe a tradition, than chose the softer route of airing their grievances, which naturally has pitfalls beyond comprehension.
Having said this, it is also important for the forces to have a standard programme for sensitising and creating awareness on use of social media among its men and women, given the sensitivities involved including the security and integrity of the country.
And third, and perhaps most disturbing aspect of this incident, is the crippling culture of cynicism that it brought to fore. For many, social media platforms have become an easy weapon of shooting aimlessly, and at the slightest trigger.
Even if momentary and short-lived, this has led to instant dent to the morale and image of a sacrosanct institution like the BSF. The Twitter goons have displayed absolute disregard for veracity and ethics and have jumped onto the bandwagon of hooliganism and character assassination.
This is neither the first nor the last such incident to unsettle the spirit of public discourse. Yet it has most certainly alerted agencies to be more prudent, and vigilant, in creating a response mechanism and crisis communication management. All security agencies, including the police forces, have a big lesson to learn from this experience:
While social media gives them immense opportunity to celebrate their success and showcase the big and beautiful, it also asks them to create robust mechanism for dealing with the pitfalls and dangers inherent in these.
(The writer is a strategic communications professional)