Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar dubbed the Agnipath military recruitment scheme a 'scam,' and denied the role of opposition in encouraging violence, as claimed by the BJP, against the scheme.
Speaking to NDTV, he said the root cause of the protest has to be understood first.
"This Agnipath scheme in real sense is a scam meant to inflame the youths of the country. With full responsibility, I am saying this because in the past three days one can view the development. Isn't the government aware of the outcome of such announcements and schemes? Have not they done any assessment of the reaction of the youth? The damage control work that they are doing today in a jiffy, why haven't they done it before announcing the scheme?" he questioned.
Kanhaiya Kumar noted that the reason for this whole crisis is that the unemployment rate of Bihar is double that of the national figure. The jobless youths are left with no other alternatives. The government is not serious about addressing the unemployment problem in the country.
On the government's plea that it wants to reduce the army's average age, Kanhaiya said it wants to reduce the number and not the "age". The truth is that this government wants to reduce spending and it is playing with the security of the country.
"Every year 50,000 army personnel were recruited. The recruitment did not happen for the past two years because of Covid-19. The government has no answers to how it is going to clear the backlog of 28 lakh vacant government posts," he said.
In his address in Bengaluru, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that "many decisions/reforms may seem unfair in the beginning but later they help in nation-building. Many decisions/reforms benefit the country, they lead us to new goals and new resolutions."
Commenting on the PM's address, Kanhaiya said, "I was hoping that the PM would appeal to the youth for peace. He will appeal to the youth to stop the violence and not to damage public property and the government would address their issues but no such appeal was made."
Referring to the ongoing protests, Kanhaiya said, "Nobody protested when lemon was sold at 150 rupees or when there was oxygen scarcity; the same people of Bihar walked 1000 miles along railway tracks and highway to reach Bihar during Covid-19, nor did they set trains on fire. When the value of rupees dipped with respect to dollars, have you seen any violence? Or in any petrol pump for price hike? The government has snatched today's youth's dream. One revolutionary poet has written it's dangerous to kill one's dream."
"People never come out against the government. When the trust was broken, they oppose. When the Annadata's hypocrisy was broken, the protest came to the fore. Similarly, two crore jobs were promised to the youth. When that didn't happen, there was opposition. The youth feel that they are being cheated so they came on the road. If it is the opposition then who listens to the opposition? If the opposition was heard, the BJP would not have been running the government in the country. The youth feel that the government is cheating on them," he added.
AGNIPATH EXPLAINER: All you need to know about the scheme
Kanhaiya was of the impression that the people of this country had trusted the PM. "On his appeal, they even lighted lamps, banged plates with the hope if Modi is saying, it may be for some good but the government reneged on the promise of doubling farmer's income and implemented farm's law to benefit the merchant, the people now got the messages that they should not rely on him."
Kanhaiya appealed to the youth of the country not to damage private, and public property. "The damage of the private or government property is ultimately the country's property and it's our responsibility to safeguard it. It can be done not only by being an army man but also as a citizen, we have to protect it. Fight for your justice, but follow the path of truth and non-violence."