Congress MLA Vikramaditya Singh termed the ‘Agneepath’ Scheme for the recruitment in the armed forces as a cruel joke on the crores of youths of the country and the state.
“Recruitment in the armed forces should be viewed with patriotism and not employment. There should be no politics on this,” he said while addressing media persons here on Friday.
“The youth are protesting against this scheme of the government,” he said, adding that lathi charge, arrests of the protesting youth, and registering cases against them is totally unfair.
“Himachal is the land of brave warriors and the youth from every household is in the army. The youths join the army not for employment, but imbued with the spirit of patriotism and service to the country and are even ready to sacrifice their lives for the country,” said Singh.
He said that Congress stands in solidarity with the youth and will organise a sit-in protest against Agnipath on Saturday across the state.
Singh has condemned the statement of Union Minister of State V K Singh in which he dismissed the youth opposing Agnipath as those who are ineligible to join the army.