Youngsters stage a protest against the newly announced Agnipath scheme, at Jalandhar-Delhi national highway, in Jalandhar, Saturday, June 18, 2022.
Highlights
- Move came amid violent protests against scheme in different parts of country
- Govt standing its ground 'Agnipath' scheme for short-term recruitment in armed forces
- Recruitment rallies under Agnipath will take place across India in Aug, Sept, Oct
Agnipath Scheme: Around 35 WhatsApp groups have been banned for spreading fake news about the new recruitment policy, government sources said on Sunday.
Screengrabs of a couple of WhatsApp groups have surfaced exposing provoking messages to fuel violence over the Agnipath scheme.
However, information about these groups or if any action has been initiated against their administrators was not immediately known.
The BJP on Sunday hit back at the opposition parties, especially Congress, for politicising the new Agnipath scheme for recruitment in armed forces.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said that the opposition parties are politicising the reform of the armed forces.
"Agnipath is a scheme that shouldn't be politicised. It is sad to see the politicisation of issues concerning the nation and armed forces, but some people play their dirty politics by keeping aside national security. Today, after the way Lieutenant General Puri explained the scheme, all apprehensions have been cleared. Reform in armed forces goes back to 1989 and it was also recommended by Kargil Review Committee after Kargil war," Patra said.
Patra added that "it's very sad to see youth being misled by some who don't want the Prime Minister's vision of 'Reform, Perform and Transform' to become successful."
Meanwhile, the police arrested nine people and detained many in Saharanpur, Bhadohi and Deoria districts for their alleged involvement in violent agitations and for instigating the youth to protests against the Agnipath military recruitment scheme, officials said on Sunday.
Four people were arrested in Bhadohi and at least eight were detained in Deoria. Those arrested in Saharanpur are said to be members of different political parties, they said.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Saharanpur Akash Tomar said, "We have arrested five people in connection with the Agnipath protest. All are above 25 years of age and are connected to different political parties. Posing as Army aspirants they were involved in instigating youth to protest against the scheme."
Those arrested have been identified as Parag Pawar (26), Sandeep (34), Saurabh Kumar (28), Mohit Chaudhary (26) and Uday (26).
(With inputs from PTI, IANS)
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