STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: On AICC call , J&K Congress on Monday held “peaceful” protests across J&K against the “anti-youth” Agnipath scheme and the central government’s “vendetta politics” targeting party leader Rahul Gandhi, who is being questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.
In Jammu, Congress protest was led by JKPCC Working President Raman Bhall and joined by PCC Vice Presidents Mula Ram, Kanta Bhan, PCC General Secretaries Th. Balwan Singh & Th. Manmohan Singh, Ved Mahajan (Ex-MLC), Indu Pawar (Mahila Congress), DCC President Jammu Rural Hari Singh Chib, Dr. R.K. Khajuria, Pawan Raina, Sahil Sharma, Sanjeev Panda, Manjeet Jatt, Thomas Khokhar, Nadeem Sharief, Ch. Sukhdev Singh, Suresh Dogra, Rajveer Singh, Col, Swarn Singh, S. Gajan Singh, Michael Wazir Atul Sharma, Rakesh Sharma, Rajiv Saraf, , Jatin Vashisht, Kewal Krishan Jogi, Nassir Masih, Arif Malik, Janak Mehra,Gurmeet Singh, Ranjeet Chopra, Prithvi Raj, Billal Rashid, Master Ajaib Singh Motton, Des Raj, Sunil Kumar, Rattan Lal, Sukhwinder Singh, Jagdish Raj, Janak Raj, Balwinder Kumar, Bachan Lal, Mukesh Kumar, Rattan Lal Bhagat , Sharafat Singh, Arun Kumar Singh, Chran Dass, Som Raj, Raman Kumar, Hans Raj Bhagat, Sohan Lal, Joginder Lal and Several top JKPCC leaders participated in what the party called ‘satyagrah’ and demanded the government to withdraw the Agnipath scheme.
The Congress leaders said the government should immediately withdraw this scheme as it is not good for the youth. Congress leaders and supporters criticised the BJP-led central government and said that the Agnipath scheme is not beneficial for the country’s youth and also jeopardises national security. They said Agnipath Scheme ‘neither in national security nor national interests and demanded rollback of scheme.
While addressing media persons during protest, Bhalla said lakhs of Congress workers across the country today held peaceful protests against the anti-youth Agnipath scheme and against Modi government’s vendetta politics targeting its MP Rahul Gandhi and in the evening, Congress delegation will also meet Rashtrapati and submit a memorandum on the issue of entry of Delhi Police into their party headquarters and the alleged misbehaviour with party MPs during protests against Rahul Gandhi’s ED questioning. Yesterday Congress also held a ‘satyagraha’ at Jantar Mantar in solidarity with the youth protesting against Central Government’s Agnipath Recruitment Scheme.He slammed BJP Govt and termed it callous ,adding that despite after the Agnipath scheme, which allows Indian youths to serve in the regular cadre of the Armed Forces for a period of four years, was announced on June 14, protests erupted in various states including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand and Assam, including J&K as a result of which protestors went on the rampage setting trains on fire, torching vehicles and damaging both private and public properties.
Criticising the Modi government over the scheme, Bhalla said for the first time in 75 years, service chiefs were being asked to defend a government’s policy decision. He also questioned the silence of PM Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Slamming the Centre over Agnipath Scheme, he said that the scheme will ‘kill the youth’ of the country and will ‘finish the Army’.
He said that the government is not working for the poor and youth but for big industrialists. He appealed to youths to protest peacefully against the Agnipath scheme, assuring the party’s full support. Recognise fake nationalists, the entire country is with you in your struggle,” he said quoting youth. He said the scheme, which was being implemented to save just a small amount of money, might have adverse implications on the national security. He said the armed forces were one of the best in the world due to its robust recruitment and professional training system. He also exhorted the country’s youth to “wake up” and raise their voice against the Centre’s decision “in a democratic manner”, claiming that those to be joining the armed forces under the scheme would be left nowhere after completing the four years of their service. He dubbed the recruitment scheme as anti-youth and claimed that it will only benefit the private companies as it will cater to their demand for trained security personnel. This Agnipath scheme has come after a series of jumlas by Prime Minister Modi with regard to providing jobs to the country’s youth who brought him at helm at the Centre contributing to the victory of the BJP in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he said. “After four years of service under the Agnipath scheme, youth will have only two situations to face in your life, either they will be forced to get frustrated due to unemployment or they will be searching a job of security guard in private companies” Bhalla claimed.