Army’s Agnipath recruitment faces casteism allegations

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and AAP’s Sanjay Singh launched a sharp attack on the government while JD(U) leader Upendra Kushwaha and BJP MP Varun Gandhi also tweeted a purported document linked to the recruitment exercise.

Army’s Agnipath recruitment faces casteism allegations

Young men attend a training session to prepare for the Armed Forces Agnipath recruitment exam, in Patna, on Saturday. Pic/PTI

Several Opposition leaders and a BJP ally alleged Tuesday that the Army was using caste as a factor for recruitment under the Agnipath scheme, a charge swiftly rejected by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh as a “rumour”.

“When there is no reservation in the army, then what is the need for a caste certificate,” Tejashwi Yadav asked, tagging the purported army document, which sought caste and religious certificates among other documents from applicants.

Kushwaha, whose party is a BJP ally, also raised the issue and questioned the need for a caste certificate in army recruitment when there is no provision for reservation in it. AAP’s Sanjay Singh tweeted, “The cheap face of the Modi government has come out in front of the country... Modi ji, you have to make ‘Agniveer’ or ‘Jaativeer’.”

The BJP accused the critics of “belittling and insulting” the Army and alleged that they were trying to instigate youngsters for street protests. “I want to make it clear that this is a rumour. The (recruitment) system which was in place before Independence is being continued and there is no change to this,” Singh told reporters in Parliament complex.

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