One person was killed while over 15 got injured in Telangana's Secunderabad amid ongoing protests against the Centre's Agnipath scheme on Friday.
Trains were set afire, public and police vehicles attacked and personnel injured as protests over 'Agnipath' snowballed and swept across several states on Thursday.
As the violence spiralled, the government raised the upper age limit to 23 years from 21 years for recruitment under the scheme for the year 2022, without making a reference to the turmoil.
"Cognizant of the fact that it has not been possible to undertake the recruitment during the last two years, the government has decided that a one-time waiver shall be granted for the proposed recruitment cycle for 2022," a defence ministry spokesperson said, adding the upper-age limit for recruitment under Agnipath has been raised to 23 years.
With many states in the grip of violence, political voices emerged as well against the new recruitment scheme for the defence forces that have set off a firestorm.
Railway service disrupted
Over 200 trains have been affected so far due to the protests against the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the armed forces, the Railways said Friday.
Around 35 trains have been cancelled while 13 short-terminated since the protests erupted on Wednesday, the national carrier said.
The worst-hit East Central Railways which covers Bihar, Jharkhand and parts of Uttar Pradesh, the states which have witnessed widespread protests, has also decided to "monitor" the operations of eight trains due to the agitations.
Angry mobs have targeted trains and railway property in their protests against the Centre’s Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the armed forces on a short-term contractual basis.
Coaches of three running trains in the ECR and one empty rake in Kulharia (also in the ECR) were damaged by violent protestors. One coach of a stationary train was also damaged in the washing line at Uttar Pradesh' Balia.
Damages to the fixed assets are difficult to be assessed at the moment, railway officials said.
Here's an account of what's going on where and how the enraged armed force aspirants are protesting against the Centre's whimsical move
Bihar
Violent protests continued in Bihar for a second day on Thursday with protesters, consisting mainly of defence forces aspirants, disrupting railway and road traffic in Jehanabad, Buxar and Nawada districts in Bihar on Thursday. Trains were set afire, window panes of buses smashed and passersby, including a ruling BJP MLA, pelted with stone.
Simmering discontent in Bihar, where agitation over the scheme was held in a handful of districts a day ago, seemed to have spread like a wildfire to the major part of the state, as infuriated agitators went on the rampage, seeking immediate rollback of ‘Agnipath’ -- under which hiring has been proposed for a four-year-period followed by compulsory retirement, for at least 75 per cent of the personnel, without any pension benefits.
Police fired teargas shells and charged baton to disperse the angry demonstrators who blocked railway tracks, threw burning tyres on roads and performed push-ups and other drills on the streets as a mark of protest against the recruitment process.
"So far we have arrested 125 people in connection with the violence. Two dozen FIRs have been registered. At least 16 police personnel have been injured across the state in clashes with the protesters," Sanjay Singh, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order), told PTI.
He said, "We are conducting further investigations and arrest of more people is likely."
The protests also caused massive disruption of rail traffic. According to the East Central Railway zone headquartered in Hajipur, seven-passenger trains had to be cancelled because of the disturbances while many others were either short-terminated or run via alternate routes.
"Railway traffic had been disrupted since 8 am. Normalcy was restored by 1530 hours," said the ECR in a statement.
Besides staging demonstrations on railway tracks in over a dozen districts, the protesters set fire to coaches in Chhapra and Bhabhua while broken window panes of several trains bore the testimony of the vandalism on display.
Following the protest, internet services have been suspended in 12 districts in Bihar. The government said that the misuse of social networking sites is likely to be detrimental to the interests of peace in these 12 districts.
Uttar Pradesh
While raising slogans like, 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and 'Agnipath Vapas Lo', youths protesting against the Centre's new scheme to recruit soldiers on Friday set an empty train on fire and vandalised a few other trains here, prompting the police to lathicharge them.
Police sources said that the protesters gathered at the Veeri Lork Stadium here and then marched to the Ballia railway station.
They also allegedly pelted stones near the railway godown and targeted private shops at the railway station platform.
District Magistrate Saumya Agarwal said, "Considering the possibility of youths protesting, police was deployed from the morning itself. Some unruly youths came and tried to pelt stones, but the administration did not allow them to succeed. One portion of Ballia railway station was vandalised. Action is being taken against the unruly elements."
Superintendent of Police Raj Karan Nayyar said that the youths are being persuaded to call off the protest and sent back.
"The incident has been videographed. So far, no arrests have been made," he said.
In Uttar Pradesh, a mob entered a railway station in Ballia this morning and set a train coach on fire, damaging railway station property before the police used force to disperse them
Telangana
Violent protest in Telangana's Secundrabad killed one person while over 15 were injured on Friday.
The protest against the Centre's 'Agnipath' scheme relating to recruitment in the armed forces spread to the South on Friday as police fired in the air to disperse protesters who went on the rampage at Secunderabad Railway station.
According to a senior official of South Central Railway, the agitators set on fire some coaches of three passenger trains and none of the passengers was hurt in the incidents."There was an incident (of firing), to control them and some firing also happened," the official told PTI.
Tension prevailed at Secunderabad Railway station and in the vicinity as people ran helter-skelter in the wake of the protest. Shops near the railway station were shut.
Delhi
Hundreds of youth took to the streets in Bilaspur and Sidhrawali areas of Gurugram and Rewari, some 50 km away from Delhi. The protesters laid a virtual seize on bus stands and roads, crippling traffic on the Gurugram-Jaipur highway, and held a protest at Bilaspur Chowk.
The protests caused traffic diversions and snarls in surrounding areas. According to reports, police lathi-charged the protesters in a bid to bring the situation under control.
The AAP on Thursday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "betrayed" the country's youth with the announcement of ‘Agnipath’ scheme for recruitment into the armed forces, and demanded that the decision be withdrawn.
In a video message, the party's Rajya Sabha MP and spokesperson Sanjay Singh 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.
"The Agnipath scheme for army recruitment is a clear betrayal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with 20 crore youth of the country. The government has stabbed the youth of the country in their back," Singh charged.
The Gurugram district administration has imposed Section 144 as a precautionary measure even though no fresh protest was reported here on Friday against the Centre's Agnipath scheme to recruit soldiers.
Deputy Commissioner Nishant Yadav said the order was issued as protests were likely to spread to the second day here and that the administraton anticipated angry crowd at railway stations, bus stands, markets, national highways and power grids among other places in the district.
"This may have created obstruction, disturbance or interference in the maintenance of law and order," he said.
"Under Criminal Procedure-1973, I, Nishant Kumar Yadav, 1.A.S., District Magistrate, Gurugram hereby prohibit the free movement of persons and gathering more than four persons within Gurugram," the order said.
Any person found guilty of violation shall be prosecuted and punished as per law, the order mentioned.
Himachal Pradesh
There were protests in Kangra and Hamirpur districts of Himachal Pradesh on Thursday against the Centre's Agnipath scheme for four-year contractual recruitment in the armed forces.
The protesters in Kangra, led by Youth Congress district president Pankaj Kumar, tried to reach Dharamshala where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to hold a roadshow, but were stopped by police several km away at Gaggal.
The protesters raised slogans against the government and the prime minister and demanded the rollback of the scheme which they claimed was "a cruel joke" on the unemployed youths of the country.
The police took away the protesters in a bus and dropped them at a place some distance away.
In Hamirpur district, hundreds of unemployed youngsters gathered at Gandhi Chowk Thursday morning and raised slogans against the government for launching the Agnipath scheme.
They demanded its immediate withdrawal and regular recruitment for them in the Indian Army.
Uttarakhand
The national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) and a prominent face of the 2020-21 farmers' stir in Delhi, took to social media to lodge his protest against the Centre's new step for contractual recruitment into the armed forces.
"The farmers of the country have suffered for 13 months due to the government's wrong policies and today, the youngsters of the country are facing the consequences of a wrong decision. The government should know that those getting into the armed forces are also sons of farmers. We will fight till our last breath for the youngsters of the country and our children," Tikait said in a tweet in Hindi.
He also shared a picture along with the tweet that claimed that a young man from Haryana's Rohtak, who was preparing for recruitment into the armed forces for four years, ended his life after the government announced the "Agnipath" scheme.
Tikait's remarks came on a day when violent protests erupted in several parts of north India, including Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, over the Centre's new announcement.
Protests in Rajasthan
Scores of defence job aspirants led by the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) staged protests in several parts of Rajasthan on Thursday against the Centre's Agnipath scheme for four-year contractual recruitment in the armed forces.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said the central government was playing with the future of the youth and the country's security with its Agnipath scheme and demanded its immediate rollback.
Job aspirants and RLP activists took out protest rallies in Jodhpur, Sikar, Jaipur, Nagaur, Ajmer and Jhunjhunu districts and raised slogans against the central government.
In Jaipur, a large number of youths demonstrated at the district collectorate and raised slogans against the scheme and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. RLP national convener and MP Hanuman Beniwal participated in the protest here.
"The central government will have to bow down and roll back the scheme. The jawans on whose strength the prime minister is at the pinnacle of power will give a lesson to the BJP in 2024," Beniwal said while addressing the gathering.
Punjab
Job aspirants on Friday staged a protest here against the Centre’s “Agnipath” scheme and demanded its rollback.
The Centre on Tuesday unveiled the ambitious scheme for recruitment of the youth aged between 17 and a half and 21 in the Army, Navy and the Air Force, largely on a four-year short-term contractual basis.
The youth recruited under the scheme will be known as "Agniveers". After the completion of the four-year tenure, 25 per cent of the recruits from each specific batch will be offered regular service.
Protesters belonging to Chohal and nearby villages carried placards against the new Army recruitment scheme and told the media that they have been working hard joining the Army for the past several years.
Their dream has been shattered with the scheme, they said.
They warned that if the Centre does not take back the scheme they would intensify their struggle.
They also presented a memorandum to Hoshiarpur Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) Sandip Kumar.
Protests against the scheme have raged through several states for the third day on Friday.
The process of recruitment under the recruitment scheme will start in a "few days", Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said earlier in the day and appealed to the youth looking at joining the military to start preparing for it.
Singh also tried to assuage concerns of young people agitating against the four-year contractual recruitment plan, saying the new model is a "golden opportunity" for those wanting to join the country's armed forces.
He said the government's decision to increase the upper age limit from 21 years to 23 years for recruitment under the scheme in 2022 will allow a significant number of youths to join the armed forces.
(With PTI Inputs)
