Para-military aspirants’ diwali on Delhi pavement, Modi-Shah deaf to their demand

It was a noiseless diwali for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, as they are deaf to the protests of the farmers and the para-military aspirants, in and around Delhi.

While the farmers have been protesting for over a year demanding the scrapping of three agricultural laws, which they say are against their interests, thousands of youth, waiting to join various para-military forces in the country will complete a year of their protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.

The youth, who have cleared the Staff Selection Commission General Duty (SSC GD) examination 2018 and the following medical tests, are awaiting appointment letters.

Nearly 85,000 candidates have cleared the 2018 SSC GD constable recruitment exam. However, there are only 60,210 vacant posts. The candidates are demanding that the vacancies be filled up and that more posts be created to accommodate all the candidates, who have cleared the examination and have been found to be fit, after the cleared the Physical Endurance Test/Physical Standard Test (PET/PST) and medical fitness tests.

The young women and men, protesting in Delhi, have come from a majority of the states in the country, especially from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

They have been on the pavement at Jantar Mantar since last November, but their protests and demands have been ignored by those in power as well as the nation at large. For many, the protestors have become a fixture in the national capital.

The protesting youth have qualified for recruitment to para-military organisations like Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Border Security Force (BSF), National Investigation Agency (NIA), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Assam Rifles. All the organisations come under the Union Home Ministry headed by Amit Shah. The protestors have written numerous letters to Shah and have been tagging him in their tweets, but there has been no response from the latter.

Ironically, the peaceful protestors have faced police lathis and some have been arrested over the last one year, but they refuse to budge and have vowed to continue their demand for recruitment in the forces.

Modi spent diwali with the army, something he has been doing since becoming the Prime Minister, but has not cared to look into the demands of these young men and women waiting to serve the country.