New Delhi:The fierce protests against the Central Government’s scheme for temporary recruitment to the armed forces continued on Friday. A report from Hyderabad says a protester was killed and three were injured when the police fired on agitators at the Secunderabad railway station. Police opened fire, as the protesters set alight two trains. The injured were admitted to Gandhi Hospital. The protesters vandalised buses, torched trains and blocked roads in different parts of the country including Delhi. The police also rained lathi blows on the protesters and fired shots in the air in many areas to control the mob.
In Delhi, several students along with the members of All India Students’ Association (AISA) staged a protest and demanded the withdrawal of the scheme. They were carrying posters, banners and placards and raised slogans against the Narendra Modi-led Central Government. The number of agitators swelled up as the morning slipped past. The police removed posters as well as detained many protesters, but that failed to deter the youngsters from taking part in the agitation.
As soon as the protests began, the shutters of gate number five of the metro station were put up. The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the ‘Agnipath’ recruitment scheme for Indian youth to serve in the Armed Forces. The youth selected under this scheme will be known as ‘Agniveers’ and about 46,000 of them will be recruited this year, but they rejected the scheme and demanded its withdrawal.
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The fire of agitation has also spread to Uttar Pradesh. In Firozabad district of the state, the protesters pelted stones at the buses and set government properties on fire. According to reports from Ballia, the agitators torched several bogies of a train, damaged kiosks and vehicles. Besides, incidents of stone pelting were reported from Varanasi bus station.
In West Bengal, protests were held. The agitators were, however, restricted to Thakur Nagar under Bangaon subdivision and Bhatpara under Barrackpore sub-division of North 24-Pargana district. The students disrupted the train services by blocking the railway tracks. Trinamool Congress state general secretary and the party spokesman, Kunal Ghosh said that the Union government and the BJP were trying to make a joke of the rich heritage of the Indian armed forces. In Patna, the agitation against the scheme continued.
