Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 17: Despite the centre granting relaxation in the upper age limit for recruitment in the armed services under “Agnipath,” violent agitation against the scheme further flared up on the third day of protests on Friday taking the life of a youngster in police firing in Secunderabad and road and rail traffic disrupted in different parts of the country affecting more than 200 train services.
Protests continued for the third consecutive day in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana, as well as in West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. But Bihar continued to be one of the worst affected state where the agitators particularly targeted the houses of Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Renu Devi and Bihar BJP president and West Champaran MP Dr Sanjay Jaiswal. Railway services were disrupted across the country as protesters blocked tracks and set train coaches ablaze in several states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Telangana.
Anticipating violence in the state, the Haryana government has suspended internet services in Faridabad district’s Ballabgarh, whereas prohibitory orders under Section 144, restricting gathering of more than four persons, have been imposed in Gurgaon, the police said.
One of the most violent protests against the scheme was witnessed in Secunderabad in Telangana where a 19-year-old from Warangal was killed and over 15 have been injured as violent protests against the new military recruitment policy spread to the southern state.
Telangana police resorted to aerial firing to disperse the angry crowd at the Secunderabad railway station as protests escalated into large-scale violence and arson. By 9 am, around 2,000 protesters had gathered at the Secunderabad station, apparently mobilised through messages on social media and attacked three passenger trains, burning down bogies, breaking property inside and outside, on the platform. Security forces were outnumbered.
Some railway staff who were eye-witness of the vandalism, narrated the horrifying scenes while the trains were being vandalised. One eye-witness said there were around 5,000 people at the station and around 40 of them entered the train he was working at. “They tried setting fire in the coach. They desperately tried to set fire to the power car, but we saved it. The passenger’s things have been left behind and broken. Two gates were open, so we let the passengers go from one side. We told them, that the Railway Protection Force will keep them safe. We took the passengers out from here,” he said.
Elderly people were also terrified. Some have left behind suitcases, spectacles, Aadhaar cards, and half-eaten packets of mixture strewn around inside the train, he added. The railways are diverting trains so that they don’t go through the Secunderabad station. The disruption began at 9 am when over 350 protestors took over the railway station. East Coast Express, Rajkot Express, and Ajanta Express were set on fire by violent mobs. 71 trains – 65 from Hyderabad Multi-Modal Transport System and six express – have been cancelled so far.
In Bihar, where the protests entered the third day, the house of Deputy Chief Minister Renu Devi was attacked as the new recruitment scheme that has set off a firestorm. “Such type of violence is very dangerous for the society. The protesters should remember that this is a loss for the society,” Ms Devi, who is currently in Patna, said.
Two coaches of the Jammu Tawi Express train were set on fire in Bihar’s Samastipur district, officials said adding that no one was hurt in the incident. A BJP office was also attacked in the Lakhisarai district. A mob set fire to the Islampur-Hatia express train which was stationed at the Islampur station in Nalanda. Three AC coaches are completely burnt down and several other coaches have been damaged.
In Uttar Pradesh, a mob entered a railway station in Ballia on Friday morning and set a train coach on fire, and also damaged railway station property before the police used force to disperse them. Protests also erupted in Varanasi, Firozabad and Amethi, causing damage to government buses and other symbols of public property. A local BJP leader’s car was torched in Aligarh. At least 12 trains have been set on fire, including the ones in Telangana, and over 300 others have been affected – 214 cancelled, 11 diverted and 90 did not make it to their destinations – since the protests erupted on Wednesday, according to the Railways.
Speaking to reporters in Bettiah, the Bihar BJP chief Jaiswal claimed that he has identified many of the attackers who were “not army aspirants” and that they had come with the intention of “blowing up” the building. “My house here was attacked as part of a planned conspiracy. Stones were hurled and attempts were made to set it ablaze by pouring diesel. A cylinder bomb (contraption made of LPG cylinders) has also been left behind by the mob which clearly had the intention of blowing up the building,” he said.
Mr Jaiswal, who has been a trenchant critic of the Nitish Kumar government in the state despite his party being an alliance partner, rued “lack of sufficient alertness on part of the administration.” “However, CCTV cameras are installed at my home. The administration is examining these and hopefully it will take appropriate action. I was myself inside the house and I have identified at least 100 of the attackers. I must add none of them was an army aspirant,” said Jaiswal, without elaborating.
Earlier, Ms Devi’s house in the town was also vandalised by a mob although she was away in Patna. “It is the handiwork of opposition-sponsored goons. Aggrieved students would not target BJP leaders,” Ms Devi had alleged, citing the vandalisation of a petrol pump owned by a close relative of Jaiswal. Notably, the vehicle of BJP MLA Vinay Bihari was also attacked in adjoining Motihari town during the day. The MLA escaped unhurt but the car was badly damaged. The BJP office in Madhepura district has also been set afire by protesting mobs.
In Bharatpur in Rajasthan, hundreds of youths blocked the Agra-Bandikui railway track. Wearing masks, some of them pelted stones at police personnel due to which police resorted to firing tear gas shells to disperse the mob. “Stones were pelted at policemen. One policeman was injured. We had to fire tear gas shells to disperse the mob. Situation is now under control,” Bharatpur Superintendent of Police Shyam Singh said. Protests were also held in Jaipur, Sikar, Kota, Chittorgarh and Alwar districts.
Train services on the Sealdah-Bangaon route in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district were disrupted for a brief period on Friday morning as a group of students held a demonstration on railway tracks protesting against the Centre’s newly introduced ‘Agnipath’ scheme for recruitment in defence services, officials said. Around 50-60 students blocked the tracks at Thakurnagar station from 7.50 a.m. to 9.15 a.m., an Eastern Railway official said, adding that trains services now are normal.
All gates of the Delhi Metro’s ITO station were closed, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said Friday as members of the Left-affiliated All India Students’ Association [AISA] protested against the Agnipath scheme and demanded its rollback. “All gates of ITO Metro Station are closed,” the DMRC tweeted around 12.40 pm as the protest escalated and some members of the student organisation were detained.
Metro rail services were hit in Hyderabad also. “Passengers are informed that due to some disturbance in the city, all operations in all three lines of Hyderabad Metro Rail stand suspended till further notice. Passengers are advised to take care and make arrangements,” tweeted L&T Hyderabad Metro Rail on Friday.
Protests over the Centre’s Agnipath recruitment scheme turned violent in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore on Friday morning after protesters gathered near a railway station in the city and hurled stones, forcing the authorities to either stop or cancel some trains and also prompting the police to lob teargas shells to control the situation, officials said. Two policemen suffered minor injuries in the incident, they said, adding that around 15 protesters were arrested.
Officials said the protesters also erected barriers on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway to stop buses and pelted stones at them while the traffic also briefly came to a standstill on the Yamuna Expressway near Noida. Protests also erupted in Varanasi, Firozabad and Amethi, causing damage to government buses among others.
In a bid to mollify the angry youth aspirants, the defence minister Rajnath Singh announced relaxation in the age limit for the recruitment under Agnipath raising the bar to 23 years from 21 in the first year to meet the general concern that the youth who lost opportunity in the last two years due to suspension in recruitment owing to Corona pandemic was given a chance to get into the armed forces.
While Singh said raising the age limit showed how concerned the government was about the welfare of the youths, the Army chief Manoj Pande said the decision to raise the upper age limit under the scheme in 2022 would provide an opportunity to youths who were preparing to join the force but couldn’t in the last two years. The union home minister Amit Shah claimed that the decision would benefit a large number of youths. He added that the recruitment process in the Army had been affected for the last two years due to the Covid pandemic and Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a sensitive decision by showing concern for the youth of the country. He said the youths recruited in the armed forces under the short-term ‘Agnipath’ scheme would get priority in recruitment to the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and Assam Rifles.
Later the Air Force chief announced that the recruitment under the scheme for the air force would begin on June 24.