Bihar Students’ Unions Call For Bandh Amid Agnipath Protests; RJD Extends Support

Mumbai: Students’ organisations in Bihar, led by the All India Students’ Association, have called for a 24-hour bandh on Saturday amid Agnipath protests. The main opposition in the state, RJD, has backed the call for a state-wide bandh, reported news agency PTI.

Bihar RJD unit president Jagdanand Singh supported the Bihar bandh announced by student organizations and said that the short-term recruitment scheme is not in the interest of the youth of the country.

“We support those who are agitating on the streets against Agnipath recruitment. The new short-term recruitment scheme in the armed forces is not in the interest of the youth of the country,” Singh said at the party office in Patna.

Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustan Awam Morcha-Secular (HAM-S) has also spoken of supporting the bandh.

This movement is also getting support from Left parties.

The students have been demanding immediate withdrawal of the scheme – which proposes to enlist in the armed forces for a period of four years, after which at least 75 per cent of the personnel are given compulsory retirement without any pension.

Meanwhile, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president Chirag Paswan on Saturday asked Governor Fagu Chouhan to submit a memorandum with party workers demanding the withdrawal of the Agnipath scheme.

Addressing a press conference in Bihar’s capital Patna on Friday, Paswan said, ” Agnipath scheme will increase unemployment in the country. This will spread discontent among the youth.

The LJP president had also written to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday raising concerns about the scheme.

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