'Shun violence to sustain protest, govt will have to bend eventually'

New Delhi: The Agnipath scheme will not only make the future of recruits uncertain but also "compromise" with India's security, the AAP claimed on Monday and exhorted the protesters to shun violence and prepare a plan to sustain the "movement" against the new military recruitment plan.

The party's Rajya Sabha MP and national spokesperson Sanjay Singh asserted that the Narendra Modi government will have to eventually withdraw the scheme if the protest against it continues in a democratic manner sans violence.

The AAP has already taken to the streets to protest the new military recruitment scheme and will also "firmly" raise the issue in Parliament during the upcoming Monsoon Session, he added.

Amid protests in several parts of the country, the Army on Monday issued a notification for the induction of soldiers under the Agnipath military recruitment scheme under which the online registration of applicants will begin next month.

Several organisations on Monday held a demonstration against the Agnipath scheme at Jantar Mantar. All the member organisations of Sanyukt Rojgaar Andolan Samiti (SRAS) including Desh Ki Baat Foundation, Chatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS), Revolutionary Youth Association (RYA), Students' Federation of India (SFI) and the Aam Aadmi Party youth wing participated in the "peaceful" demonstration, the SRAS said.

"The Agneepath scheme by the Modi government betrays the youth and weakens the army," it alleged. Protests have erupted in several states since Wednesday against the Agnipath scheme to recruit jawans into the army, the navy and the air force for a four-year-period followed by compulsory retirement for most without gratuity and pension benefits.

Delhi Minister Gopal Rai expressed solidarity with the SRAS protest. "Today, peacefully protesting at Jantar Mantar is banned. It is the murder of democracy, but it cannot barricade the voice against the Agneepath scheme. The comment by the BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya yesterday that BJP will give security jobs to Agniveers in BJP offices shows the mindset of the BJP," he said.