From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Congress leaders and activists on Monday participated in a nationwide “Satyagrah for youth” against the ill-conceived Agnipath scheme in more than 3,500 Assembly headquarters across the country.
Rahul Gandhi tweeted that this mode of protest by offering Satygrah will continue until the youth get the justice. He attacked Prime Minister Modi for making his friends “Daulatveer” by giving them airports in the country for 50 years while making the youth “Agniveer” by giving them contract of just four years in the Armed Forces.
Noting that the Congress is continuing the Satyagrah and even gave a memorandum to the President of India on June 20 to withdraw the controversial scheme, party spokesman Mohan Prakash urged the Prime Minister “to shun his arrogance and to accede to the youth demand for regular recruitment instead of 4 years of contract job.”
He told a press conference here that the Congress stands with the youth in their demand for an immediate rollback of the Agnipath scheme that will weaken the national security.
“The Government should provide security rather than insecurity to the lakhs of men and women who aspire to serve the nation by joining the Armed Forces. The government has itself admitted to a shocking 1,25,000 non-commissioned vacancies in armed forces,” he said.
“We are concerned that such gimmicks are being experimented with at a time of deteriorating global security and rising threats to our borders. Just today there are reports of a continuing buildup of Chinese troops and infrastructure across the LAC, including upgraded armour, artillery, rocket systems, air defence systems and airfields. New divisions are being brought into the western sector and accommodation built for Chinese 1,20,000 troops,” Mohan Prakash said.
He said the Congress also demands release of the large number of innocent youths, who have been put in various jails across the nation to curb the youth agitation.
