“Paniya ke jahaj se paltaniya bani aiyah piya (return by ship once you become a soldier),” a wife hopes as the husband prepares to leave in a popular folk number from Bihar. For the last two days, many young men in the state, seemingly riding on hopes of a career in soldiering, are burning train coaches. That’s only one of the other forms of violent attacks they have unleashed in different parts of the state.
While violence over the Agnipath scheme has gripped several parts of the country, there are more complex factors at play behind the mob rampage in its first flashpoint Bihar. These have little to do with how young aspirants in the state view even an entry-level job in defence services but more with a yearning for any government position – from the low-rung group D to the top of the bureaucracy.
