‘Agnipath’- A Cruel Joke on the Youth and a Complete Plan

for Contractualization of Military and Para-military Forces.

‘General, Your Tank is A Powerful Vehicle’ - Bertolt Brecht

General, Your Tank is a Powerful Vehicle General, your bomber is powerful. General, man is very useful.
It smashes down forests and It flies faster than a storm and He can fly and
crushes a hundred men. carries more than an elephant. he can kill.
But it has one defect- But it has one defect- But he has one defect-
It needs a driver. It needs a mechanic. He can think.
The anger of the students and youth of the country has spilt onto the roads with the announcement of the Agnipath scheme. This
move which snatches away the remaining meagre employment opportunities, has rubbed salt on the wounds of the students and
youth already facing the brunt of severe unemployment and the ever-increasing cost of education. It has added fuel to fire and
students and youths have taken to the streets in almost every state protesting against this injustice. This scheme is nothing but a
move to snatch away the precious four youthful years of the students and youths, squeeze all their energy and then discard them
on the streets like a crushed lemon. The scheme which is brought under the pretext of reducing the defence expenditures, lays
bare the exploitation of the capitalist system in its most naked form.

This fascist Modi government had been invoking nationalism, army and soldiers to divert any issue or silence any question
against its fascist moves. But now, it is pushing the same soldiers into a dark abyss of unemployment and insecurity. According
to this government, after four years of service, these youths would retire with a higher qualification, advanced skills and 24 lakh
rupees in hand. Here better qualifications would mean driving tanks and using guns and rifles, which would be equivalent to 12th
Board qualification. We all know how commonly tanks and guns are used on our streets and in everyday lives and how much
their skills would translate into secure jobs! The government wants us to believe that after four years of service, the used and
thrown ‘jawans’ of ‘Agnipath’ would find many jobs lined up to their feet as compared to the youth who have merely studied
language, maths, science, history or political science! The government is also assuring that if left alive, ‘retired jawan’ would be
given a 10 per cent reservation in the Central Armed Police Forces. However, the Government is skillfully dodging whether this
10 per cent would be equivalent to the number of retired jawans. General Anil Puri defending the Government side, has said that
the retired jawan would also get an amount of 24 lakhs rupees. We know that the PF of four years of service comes close to 10
lakh rupees. From where the remaining 14 lakhs will come is a mystery. According to General Puri the calculation also includes
the personal savings of the jawan. Out of four years of service, the jawan would save 14 lakhs rupees! The statement qualifies as
a crude joke!

The soldiers in the army who were already put through brutal exploitation and grievous oppression are now subjected to the
starkest forms of exploitation of capital. These soldiers would now be forced to risk their lives for four years of employment and
then left to bite the dust on the streets. These youths will be rewarded with contractualisation and unemployment for their
“service to the nation”. Here we can not help but wonder whose “nation” is this anyway? “Nation” belongs only to that cream of
the society whose all rights and privileges are secured, like the capitalists, the ministers and bureaucrats-technocrats. The sons
and daughters of the toiling masses reeling under perennial unemployment, illiteracy, insecurity, hunger, and death sacrifice their
lives protecting the interests and property of the capitalist and moneyed class. The concept of “National service” invoked by the
fascists and all bourgeois parties is, in the real sense, the service of this capitalist and moneyed class.
The government is trying to justify this scheme under the pretext of reducing the budget deficit. But why should the
soldiers bear the burden of managing the budget deficit? Why can't this be done by slashing the exorbitant salaries, allowances
and various extravagances of MPs, MLAs, ministers, bureaucrats and high-ranking officials of the army and police? Why can’t
the budget deficit be reduced by imposing a higher direct tax on the capitalists and wealthy class? Why should the youth and the
toiling masses, who produce all the wealth of the country and whose labour is the source of all prosperity, bear the burden of the
extravagances of MPs, MLAs, ministers, bureaucrats and high-ranking officials of the army and police?
It is crystal clear that this fascist Modi regime, which rose to power with the promise of providing two crore jobs every year, is
privatising every sector so that the capitalist class can get some respite from the falling rate of profit of capital. The prevalent
insecurity and exploitation in the private sector attract the youth towards the public sector jobs, which provide better benefits and
long-term security. Recruitments in military and para-military forces constitute a considerable section of these government jobs.
The Central Armed Police Forces alone have 10 lakh jobs, out of which 73,219 posts are currently vacant. Para-military forces
have around 73,000 vacancies now, and state police have approximately 18,124 vacancies. After playing the trumpet of
"nationalism", "national security" and "national interest" within the military and para-military forces for a long time, the BJP
government is now ready to contractualise these services. Modi government and all BJP-led governments are hell-bent on
terminating all government jobs and suspending recruitment. Every sector is now being served on a platter to private players to
accomplish this task.

The students and the youth of this country must understand that for the fascist Modi government and the fascist Sangh Parivar
"nation" means only the capitalist class and its servants. Every ruling class constructs the definition of “nation” according to its
interests. Therefore the concept of “nation” must not be confused with “country”. "Nation" does not mean country; a country is
not merely a map etched on a piece of paper. The toiling masses who work in the fields, factories and mines, the workers and
staff in the offices, and the sons and daughters of the toiling masses working as ordinary soldiers in the army and police
constitute a country. The capitalist class comprises Ambanis, Adanis, Tatas and Birlas, the wealthy traders, the capitalist farmers,
and such does not constitute a country. This capitalist class is a parasite class which does not work, does not produce anything
and does not provide any productive service. They cling onto our bodies like leeches trying to take away our every hard-earned
right, sucking the last drops of our blood to mint coins out of it to fill their coffers. At last, having exploited us to their heart's
content, they leave us on roads destitute, homeless, insecure and unemployed.
After implementing the New Education Policy, all roads to higher education will be blocked for the poor toiling masses
of the country. The rapidly increasing unemployment rate, sky-rocketing inflation, dissolution of all labour laws and unhindered
casualisation, contractualisation and informalisation indicate the dark days that await us shortly. Our silence on this acutely
aggravating situation will prove costly in the future. We students and youths must come forward and unitedly search for an
alternative to fight against the constant attacks on the rights of the students, youth, workers and toiling masses.

Attacks on the rights of the students and youths will no longer be tolerated! We demand that:
1. 'Agnipath' scheme must be scrapped and thrown in the dustbin because it is an attack on a major source of employment for the
youth of this country, and it paves the path for its contractualisation.
2. Nearly 1,65,000 posts currently vacant in the military, para-military and Central Armed Police Forces must be immediately
filled and the recruits must be provided with all such benefits and rights that they were entitled to till now.
3. Arresting the youths protesting against the unjust and conspiratorial 'Agnipath' scheme must be immediately stopped; arrested
youths must be immediately released, and all charges levelled against them must be dropped unconditionally.
4. All armed forces must be engaged in productive activities during peacetime, and their alienation from the broad toiling masses
and social life must be ended.
5. The maltreatment and slave-like behaviour towards the ordinary soldiers in the armed forces and police must immediately stop
by bringing strict laws against it.
6. Armed forces must be given all those fundamental political rights given to every citizen of India, like the right to form unions
and associations to struggle for their demands and rights, and other such democratic rights.
7. Universal employment guarantee law (Bhagat Singh National Employment Guarantee Act/ BASNEGA) must be enacted for
all citizens of the country, and the right to work must become part of their constitutional rights.
8. Contract system must be ended in all categories of work which are generally of perennial nature.
9. Vacant posts in all government offices must be immediately filled, suspended exams must be immediately conducted and
where exams are already conducted, immediate recruitment must begin.
Death to Capitalism! Death to Fascism ! Long Live Revolution ! Long Live Student-Youth Unity !