*Paromita Das
The new Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the country’s three armies has caused a stir across the country. Roads are congested and trains are being burned as a result of anti-scheme protests. All young protesters and citizens of the country who are opposed to the Central Government’s Agneepath plan should be aware of the statement made by former Army Chief and the country’s first CDS; Late General BipinRawat, on December 13, 2018. General BipinRawat gave some sound advice to our country’s youth who are considering joining the army. First and foremost, you should be aware of this advice.
Army is not a source of employment
According to General BipinRawat, the army is not a source of employment. However, today you will notice that the majority of our country’s youth are protesting solely for army jobs. He has no desire to join the army or serve his country. Rather, he wishes to join the army in order to obtain a long-term career and a pension after retirement. These young people appear to have misinterpreted the Army as an Employment Guarantee Scheme.
This plan has three significant updates for you. To begin with, anti-scheme protests have spread to 18 states and are still growing. Second, the government has raised the recruitment age limit from 21 to 23 years old. This will, however, be a one-time event so that youth who have been preparing for the army for the past two years can also join. The third point is that Agniveer recruitment in the Air Force will begin on June 24.
Violent protests have erupted in five states across the country
It’s also ironic that today’s youths who want to join the country’s army, today’s youths staged violent protests in five states, torching 11 trains in Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar. During this time, sabotage and arson attacks were carried out at 25 railway stations across six states. The situation in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, deteriorated to the point where the protesters did not even spare the common people. Many women and children were saved by hiding under a truck there.
The scheme is currently facing the most opposition in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Punjab, and Haryana. The army recruits the majority of its soldiers from these states. Up until 2021, Uttar Pradesh had the most soldiers in the army, with a total of 2 lakh. 18 thousand. Following this, the Indian Army had 1 lakh, 4 thousand Bihar soldiers, 1 lakh 3 thousand Rajasthan soldiers, 94-94 thousand Maharashtra and Punjab soldiers, and 90 thousand Haryana soldiers. This is why these are the states where the most protests occur.
In Telangana, a railway station was vandalized
The country’s youth, who want to join the Agnipath scheme and become Agniveers, are now obstructing reforms by becoming members. Hundreds of protesters desecrated the Secunderabad railway station in Telangana on Friday. More than six bogies from three trains were set on fire during this time.
We have nothing against our country’s youth who oppose the Indian government’s scheme. We also believe that in a democratic society, they have the right to express themselves and to protest against the government. However, destroying government property, vandalising trains, and setting buses on fire in the name of protest cannot be justified in any way. A boy was killed in police firing during violence in Secunderabad, Telangana, on Friday. In addition, 14 people were injured.
We have nothing against our country’s youth who oppose the Indian government’s scheme. We also believe that in a democratic society, they have the right to express themselves and to protest against the government. However, destroying government property, vandalising trains, and setting buses on fire in the name of protest cannot be justified in any way. A boy was killed in police firing during violence in Secunderabad, Telangana, on Friday. In addition, 14 people were injured.
When more than 150 protesters pelted stones at the police, a school bus became stuck on the road.
When more than 150 protesters pelted stones at the police, a school bus became stuck on the road. During this time, the children who were boarding the school bus were terrified and began crying. Consider whether this type of protest is recognized as a constitutional right in our country’s constitution.
Is this kind of violence referred to as patriotism?
It’s exhausting to hear about the violence on Friday, but the cycle will continue. In most of our country’s states, there is currently a climate of violence. For the first time in India’s history, young people are setting fire to trains in order to join the army by taking to the streets in this manner. This service to the country is impossible. You can learn about country service from an incident in Gaya, Bihar.
Young protesters set fire to the bogies of a train that was parked on a railway track in Gaya district on Friday. To prevent the fire from spreading to other coaches, a railway worker was seen risking his life to separate the two bogies. The people who were present at the time also assisted him. That is, on the one hand, there are young people who want to join the army and are setting trains on fire to do so. The railway worker, on the other hand, put his life on the line to save the trains from fire. So, who was the true patriot?
Is it possible that the government has not learned anything from the farmers’ movement?
Hundreds of youths were lathi-charged by police during protests in many states on Friday, according to reports. Even the police, we believe, should not use force against these youths.
These young people are citizens of the United States. They are enraged by their government, and they have the right to express themselves. In such a situation, neither the youths nor the police should resort to violence.
Given widespread opposition to the scheme among young people across the country, it appears that this protest has taken the form of a farmers’ movement. The government made the same mistake at the time, and it has done so again this time. It’s because she couldn’t explain the advantages of her new schemes to farmers back then, and she still can’t explain them to the youth today. When Prime Minister Modi announced the repeal of agricultural laws, he claimed that something was missing in the government’s austerity because he couldn’t explain the laws’ benefits to the protesting farmers. In regards to the current protests, the government is in a similar situation. That is, the government appears to have learned nothing from the agricultural movement.
The anti-government lobby has resurfaced
In our country, there is a lobby that tries to mislead the people on a regular basis. It can be recalled that when the GST was introduced, this lobby created a misconception among our country’s business community that it would destroy small businesses. Similarly, when the government introduced the Citizenship Amendment Act, this lobby falsely claimed that it would strip Muslims of their citizenship, when nothing could be further from the truth. When the Agriculture Act was passed, these people began to claim that the laws were written for industrialists and that they would rob farmers of their land. There is nothing comparable to this. The same thing is happening now with the Agnipath Scheme, and efforts are being made to motivate the country’s youth.
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