NEW DELHI: A Kargil war veteran who now works as a security guard in Kanpur, has alleged that he was beaten up and humiliated by a Samajwadi Party leader's men upon the politician's orders - as well by the police - on TuesdayHis 'crime'? He didn't salute the SP leader when he was asked to do so.Ganesh Kumar Shukla, a non-commissioned officer of the Army's Mahar regiment who served the nation for 22 years, has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to help him fight this injustice. He has said that he will immolate himself if he doesn't get justice."Main ye apmaan sehen nahi kar paaunga. Meri ladne me madad kariye (I won't be able to bear this insult. Please help me in this fight)," he said.In his statement, Shukla says he told the SP politician - a certain 'CK Tripathi' - that he would only salute the tri-colour, or people mandated by the President of India. The SP leader had come to the Reliance Digital store where Shukla works as a security guard.The SP man's alleged response was to tell his men, "Ye bohot bolta hai, isko maaro (this guy speaks too much, beat him up). He then called the "Civil Lines" police - who not only beat Shukla without conducting an investigation, but also placed their shoes on his face and then filed an FIR against him, Shukla said.Here's Ganesh Kumar Shukla 's recorded statement.Colonel Anil Kaul of the Mahar regiment - the regiment Shukla is from - spoke to TOI about the change he sees in the way Army officers are treated in India."We've reached a stage, where frankly - and this is my personal opinion - over the last 70 years, the Armed Forces have been brought down from a high pedestal to... subservience..almost to a level of unskilled labour," Col. Kaul said.Col. Kaul, a war veteran who is a recipient of the Vir Chakra, recalled how police superintendents used to meet Army captains at home. He lamented that this had now changed. In fact, army men are bring equated "at a level below the police," and some want to make them feel as though they were from "a lower strata of society," he said.Col. Kaul said disrespect was being "deliberately thrown around at the Armed Forces," despite everything that they did for the country. He attributed the "mismatch" in the kind of respect that policemen and soldiers get now, to envy for the Armed Forces"We're not asking for the moon. Just give us our izzat," he said.