Skip to main content

Agniveers on contract: What if Chinese PLA offers Indian youth better service options?

By Harshavardhan Purandare, Sandeep Pandey
*
The Narendra Modi government just doesn’t seem to learn from its past mistakes. From demonetisation to farmers’ laws with decision on Kashmir, Citizenship Amendment Act and Covid lockdown in the interim the citizens of this country have had to suffer because of not just the unwise decisions of the government but also the manner in which decisions are taken. Once again we’ve a characteristic high handed decision without any consultation with either the general public or the people’s representatives.
The Agnipath scheme, in spite of its popular Bollywood title and its hyped launch, has set the Indian youth on fire against the government within a day of its launch. In the present environment of economic uncertainty, the young Indians are instigated with the scheme announced by our prime minister, as it shrinks their job opportunity in the defense forces further. The ‘hire and fire’ logic of cost cutting will not only hurt the careers in the army, but it will also reduce the professional competency of the defense forces in the long run.
While all this is discussed by defense experts, one must explore another side of this scheme, that it makes thousands of trained ‘Agniveers’ -- 75% recruits who lose their jobs after four years' contract is over -- simply unemployed. Government is saying that they can be absorbed in the state police force or other professional security requirements, but that can turn out to be a half truth.
Most of them are more likely to be absorbed as private security guards by agencies out to exploit them. One dangerous prospect is -- they will become easy recruits for political ideologies that believe in violence, to be used in the capacity of foot soldiers.
This announcement is clearly in line with recruitment processes in other departments where short term contract employees working at much lower salaries with no liabilities for the government are preferred over regular employment. But then why should we assume that they will give their best for the country?
The reason why armed forces are revered is that they are willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of country. If a four years recruit is faced with a situation where he is expected to make a sacrifice with economic insecurity of his family looming large, we cannot be sure what decision he will take?
With economic policies of globalisation, privatisation and liberalisation some areas have been opened up for employment of foreign nationals -- teaching posts in private universities, airline pilots, cricket players in IPL and coaches for various sports, etc. If armed forces too proceed in this direction then what prevents the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in recruiting Indian youth at better service conditions? Afterall, we do have a Gorkha regiment of Indian Army, who originally hail from Nepal.
Traditionally, our civil society and armed forces do maintain a distance from each other. The mingling happens only through defined channels for honouring and celebrating men and women performing their duty in military uniforms. Armed warfare is not an everyday thing for the average Indian.
Neither there is social support for including military education in the school system nor the military leaders aspire much to occupy the top positions in civil and political life beyond a few exceptions. Still, we have managed to create competent and professional defense forces who have defended us well after independence.
But after Hindutva nationalists came to power, security issues got hyped and became the core of the political narrative. As if the rulers want every Indian to live in fear of imagined attack, issues around the army gets hyped and politicized. Suddenly, retired military generals appear on TV shows or become ministers, campaigning in favour of nationalism.
Narendra Modi made an appeal to youth to vote in the name of surgical strike at Balakot in response to Pulwama attack. We have to view the outcome of Agnipath in light of such a political environment. What will prevent a jingoistic leader to goad the jobless youth trained by Armed forces in their twenties and thirties not mature enough to discern national interest from the interest of ruling dispensation to take up arms for a particular cause?
Beyond the political motives, one can say that branding of Agniveers and hype that is created around this recruitment is also a bad idea. There is a difference in celebrating the sacrifices, bravery of our soldiers and painting them as Bollywood superheroes in the imagination of young Indians through vicious WhatsApp campaigns.
We do not want our next generations to fight imaginary enemies and live in fantasy of the violence. Neither the knowledge of how to use guns and weapons should become the pursuit of teenage India. We do not want the culture of video game psychopaths getting into the schools and killing the innocents.
The US is struggling with moral dilemma of gun control laws in the aftermath of recent killing in a school. Pakistan has also witnessed such indiscriminate killing of children. The government support to militia in Pakistan is an open secret, the biggest price for which has been paid by Pakistan itself.
In the days of the internet, the knowledge and fad of weapons will travel from one cell phone to another at the speed of light, if we hype the armed forces in civil society. Finding Desi Kattas in black markets or guns from the gun manufacturing cottage industry of Munger in Bihar for cheap is not at all difficult if motivation for violence is created. In the name of cause of national security, the campaigns with undertones of violence will only do harm to peace and internal security.
Army should have public support and backing, but they are expected to perform discreetly. The defense forces are our last resort to be used to settle political conflicts at the borders or inside the country. We must let them operate independently.
---
*Associated with Socialist Party (India)

Comments

TRENDING

Defeat of martial law: Has the decisive moment for change come in South Korea?

By Steven Lee  Late at night on December 3, soldiers stormed into South Korea’s National Assembly in armored vehicles and combat helicopters. Assembly staff desperately blocked their assault with fire extinguishers and barricades. South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol had just declared martial law to “ eliminate ‘anti-state’ forces .”

70,000 migrants, sold on Canadian dream, face uncertain future: Canada reinvents the xenophobic wheel

By Saurav Sarkar*  Bikram Singh is running out of time on his post-study work visa in Canada. Singh is one of about 70,000 migrants who were sold on the Canadian dream of eventually making the country their home but now face an uncertain future with their work permits set to expire by December 2024. They came from places like India, China, and the Philippines, and sold their land and belongings in their home countries, took out loans, or made other enormous commitments to get themselves to Canada.

A groundbreaking non-violent approach: Maharishi’s invincible defense technology

By MajGen (R) Kulwant Singh, Col (R) SP Bakshi, Col (R) Jitendra Jung Karki, LtCol (R) Gunter Chassé & Dr David Leffler*  In today’s turbulent world, achieving lasting peace and ensuring national security are more urgent than ever. Traditional defense methods focus on advanced weapons, military strategies, and tactics, but a groundbreaking approach offers a new non-violent and holistic solution: Maharishi’s Invincible Defense Technology (IDT). 

This Indian British Marxist blamed USSR's collapse in 1991 on Khrushchev's 'revisionism'

By Harsh Thakor*  Harpal Singh Brar, British Indian Marxist scholar and communist leader, has passed away in Chandigarh. He was 85. He was a lifelong supporter of socialism, Marxism, and the working class. He will be remembered among British Communists.

EVMs: Govt must prove beyond reasonable doubt it's upholding mandate for free, fair polls

By Jerald D’souza  With the growth of India’s population, concerns about electoral fraud associated with ballot papers, also began to escalate. In 1989, the People’s Representation Act was amended to enable EVMs to prevent electoral fraud. In 1998, EVMs made their debut during legislative assembly elections and for the first time for general elections in 2004. However, criticisms against the EVMs and questions about their integrity have been raised by political parties, civil society and the general population. On 2 February 2024, there was a noteworthy demonstration of dissent where numerous individuals, including Ambedkarite advocates, legal professionals, and other members of civil society  convened at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar demanding the prohibition of EVMs. In 2024, the Supreme court had slapped down a petition to return to paper ballots on the basis that machines give “absolutely accurate results” unless human bias maligns them. The court stated that it was open to testi...

Chalapathi's death in encounter suggests Maoists' inability to establish broader mass support

By Harsh Thakor* The Maoist movement experienced a significant loss during the Ramagudem encounter on January 21, with the death of Chalapathi (Pratap), a Central Committee member of the CPI (Maoist). His death, along with 15 others, marks a major setback for the movement. Reports suggest that his location was revealed to security forces through a selfie with his wife.

Why do we mostly resist and refrain from communicating on sanitation topic?

By Nikhil Kumar, Mansee Bal Bhargava* According to UN SDG Progress report (2022), at the present moment no targets for SDG 6 are expected to be met by 2030. In 2022, 2.2 billion people had no access to safe drinking water and 3.5 million lacked safe sanitation. Approximately 50% of the world’s population was reported to have been under resourced in enough water for part of the year and a quarter of that population was living under “extremely high” water stress. Add to it, droughts have affected over 1.4 billion people between 2002 and 2021.

Govt of India asked to work for release of 217 Indian fishermen detained in Pakistan since 2021

By A Representative  Members of the fishing communities from Gujarat and Diu, Union Territory, held a press conference in Ahmedabad, urging the Union Government to take proactive measures to secure the release of Indian fishermen currently detained in Pakistan. Presently, 217 Indian fishermen, mostly from Gujarat and Diu, are held in Pakistan’s Malir Jail. Of these, 53 have been incarcerated since 2021 and 130 since 2022.

34 Dalit families in IIT Kanpur without toilets in Open Defecation Free India

By Sandeep Pandey   When Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur was set up in 1959, two villages were uprooted. The farmers were given meagre compensation for the standing crop. No compensation was given for the land to build this institute of national importance. Each family was promised a job but what was not told to them was that one would require specialised skills to get a job at IIT. Some members of these families were, of course, absorbed for menial work. Some washerfolk families were also invited from outside to live on campus to take care of the laundry needs of students, staff and faculty members. One of these men was cajoled by IIT authorities then to forego a regular employment at IIT and instead take up clothes washing work.

अल्पसंख्यक कार्य मंत्रालय का बजट निराशाजनक: 19.3% अल्पसंख्यकों के लिए मात्र 0.0661% ठोस आवंटन

- मुजाहिद नफ़ीस*   1-2-2025 को भारत सरकार द्वारा संसद में वर्ष 2025-26 का बजट वित्त मंत्री निर्मला सीतारमण जी ने पेश किया| इस वर्ष का बजट 5065345 करोड़ है जो कि पिछले साल के संशोधित अनुमान से लगभग 7.39% की बढ़ोतरी हुई है| वहीं अल्पसंख्यक कार्य मंत्रालय का बजट मात्र 3350.00 करोड़ है जो कि कुल बजट का 0.0661% लगभग है|  पिछले साल 2024-25 में 3183.24 करोड़ था|