Amid protest against Agnipath, security up at railway stations in Punjab

Tribune Reporters

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Amritsar/Fatehgarh Sahib, June 20

MF Farooqi, ADGP (Railways), has announced that security has been beefed up at all railway stations across the state in the wake of recent violent protests against the Agnipath recruitment scheme for services.

During an inspection of security arrangements at the Amritsar railway station on Monday, he said heads of the district administrations were contacted to deploy additional forces. Besides, planning had been reorganised to meet any challenge.

Farooqi said strict action was ensured against arsonists, who took law in their hands, by filing FIRs against them. “I visited the Ludhiana railway station yesterday. Today after visiting the Pathankot railway station, I came here for inspection. So I can say with certainty that vigilance level is quite high.”

Even as heavy police force has been deployed at the railway station for the past three days, the flow of passengers also swelled as vends and shopkeepers opened their outlets to carry on with their business.

Meanwhile, in Fatehgarh Sahib, hundreds of aspirants, who have cleared the medical and physical tests for Army recruitment, today held a protest against the Agnipath scheme of the Union Government.

The students gathered near Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib and marched towards the Deputy Commissioner office. The police in large numbers cordoned them off and persuaded them to protest peacefully. The students sat on dharna at Jyoti Swarup Chowk, but they did not disrupt the traffic and continued to raise slogans like, “Agnipath wapas lo, tanashahi nahi chalegi”. They also held placards seeking immediate filling of all vacancies by conducting written tests.

While talking to the media, they claimed the scheme was nothing but a design to destroy permanent jobs in the armed forces. They said the scheme was just another “jumla” of the BJP for the unemployed youth.

Claiming that even parents would now think twice before sending their sons to the Army now, they said what would the youth do after four years. “They will be considered retiree, no one will recruit them,” a youth said.

The police had taken all precautionary measures and a large contingent had been deployed to cordon off the protesters to control them. The protesters presented a memorandum to the SDM, Fatehgarh Sahib, in this regard.

Ex-servicemen give memorandum to DC

Muktsar: Ex-servicemen on Monday handed over a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner against the Agnipath scheme. Some farmer leaders, too, accompanied them. Notably, the ex-servicemen had taken out a protest march in the town on Sunday.