As the sudden violence at the Secunderabad railway station stunned the police and locals, political parties saw the protests as a reflection of anger building up among the youth against the lack of employment opportunities and the failure of the Central Government in keeping its promise of providing 2 crore jobs every year.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) working president and IT Minister, K. T. Rama Rao, who has frequently criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, tweeted saying the protests against the Agnipath scheme was an eye-opener and acute indicator of the magnitude of the unemployment crisis in the country.
“From One Rank - One Pension to proposed No Rank - No Pension!,” he tweeted blaming Prime Minister Modi for “playing with the sentiments” of youngsters.
Anger reflects bad decision: Revanth
Telangana Congress president, A. Revanth Reddy termed the violent protests at Secunderabad as unfortunate and said the anger among the youngsters reflected that the Modi government’s decision was wrong.
READ: Anti-Agnipath protests live updates
“If youngsters who want to join the army with patriotic feelings had reacted so violently, it means there was something wrong with the scheme. It is better the Modi government realises it fast and scrap the Agniveer scheme,” he said, demanding that the continuation of the old method of recruitment.
Former MP V. Hanmanth Rao said youngsters were “feeling cheated” with the government limiting their service in the Indian Army to just four years and later leaving them in the lurch. “Is this the respect the BJP has for youngsters who are willing to lay down their lives in the service of the nation?”, he asked.
He claimed that the Agniveer scheme was borne out of the BJP’s plan to deny pensions to soldiers.
BJP leaders have remained silent on the issue so far, though they claimed that the scheme was in the interest of the country and strengthening the Army in the long run. Fears of those aspiring to join the Indian defence forces are unfounded, a leader claimed.
