On July 19, Sanjay Singh, the Aam Aadmi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member, was caught invoking the over-used ‘caste and religion’ card to attack the BJP government at the centre over its Agnipath Scheme. Attacking the government over the requirement of caste and religion certificates to apply for the Agnipath scheme, he claimed that this was being done for the ‘first time in Indian history’.
As the claim by the Rajya Sabha MP went viral, Press Information Bureau (PIB) had to post a tweet debunking the obvious fake claim.
In his Tweet, the AAP leader wrote in Hindi, “Does Modi ji not consider Dalits, backward, tribals eligible for army recruitment? For the first time in the history of India, caste is being asked in ‘army recruitment’. Modi ji you want to create ‘Agniveer’ or ‘Jaativeer’.”
To legitimatize his bogus claim, Sanjay Singh shared a screenshot of the Indian Army recruitment application. He highlighted the section where candidates are asked to furnish caste and religion certificates.
मोदी सरकार का घटिया चेहरा देश के सामने आ चुका है।
— Sanjay Singh AAP (@SanjayAzadSln) July 19, 2022
क्या मोदी जी दलितों/पिछड़ों/आदिवासियों को सेना भर्ती के क़ाबिल नही मानते?
भारत के इतिहास में पहली बार “सेना भर्ती “ में जाति पूछी जा रही है।
मोदी जी आपको “अग्निवीर” बनाना है या “जातिवीर” pic.twitter.com/fxgBre38Ft
The AAP leader was not alone when it came to spreading this fake news. The RJD chief Tejaswi Yadav also took to Twitter to peddle the same misinformation. Yadav did not stop at this, he went a step ahead to cast further aspersions on the government saying that under the Agnipath scheme, the retrenchment of soldiers will be done on the basis of their caste. He said that this was the reason why the Army has been asking the aspirants to submit the caste certificates.
आजादी के बाद 75 वर्षों तक सेना में ठेके पर “अग्निपथ” व्यवस्था लागू नहीं थी। सेना में भर्ती होने के बाद 75% सैनिकों की छँटनी नहीं होती थी लेकिन संघ की कट्टर जातिवादी सरकार अब जाति/धर्म देखकर 75% सैनिकों की छँटनी करेगी।सेना में जब आरक्षण है ही नहीं तो जाति प्रमाणपत्र की क्या जरूरत? https://t.co/x8mpIwLcJC
— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) July 19, 2022
Following these misleading tweets, Press Information Bureau’s fact-checking arm discredited the claims made by the politicians. Though PIB blurred Sanjay Singh’s name, it shared the screenshot of the AAP leader’s tweet and called it fake. Countering Singh’s fake assertions, PIB tweeted that submitting a caste certificate has always been a pre-requisite and no changes have been made for the Agnipath scheme per se.
“Requirement for aspirants to submit caste certificates and if required, religion certificates was always there. No change for Agniveer recruitment scheme has been made in this regard,” read the Tweet in Hindi.
दावा: भारत के इतिहास में पहली बार सेना भर्ती में जाति पूछी जा रही है। #PIBFactCheck
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) July 19, 2022
▶️ यह दावा फ़र्ज़ी है।
▶️ सेना भर्ती के लिए जाति प्रमाण पत्र दिखाने का प्रावधान पहले से ही है।
▶️ इसमें विशेष रूप से #AgnipathScheme के लिए कोई बदलाव नहीं किया गया है। pic.twitter.com/ryxlWM6iso
Notably, soon after Opposition leaders started attacking the government with their fake claim, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also stepped in to clarify the matter. He too brushed off the allegations saying that this system is being followed since the pre-independence era and is not something that has been introduced by the Modi government. “It’s just a rumour. The earlier system, existing since the pre-independence era, is going on. No change has been made. The old system is being continued,” said Rajnath Singh while addressing the media.
#WATCH | “It’s just a rumour. Earlier system, existing since pre-independence era, is going on. No change has been made. Old system is being continued,” says Defence Min Rajnath Singh on Opposition’s allegations that caste & religion certificates being asked for Agnipath scheme. pic.twitter.com/gtBJAtaSvP
— ANI (@ANI) July 19, 2022
Students unleash mayhem in the name of protest, Gandhi siblings enter the arena of Agnipath recruitment violence
Ever since the Agnipath scheme was announced by the Central Government, it has landed in controversy over the recruitment of Jawans into the forces. Aspiring candidates in Bihar and other surrounding states in North India took to violent protests and agitations against the recruitment scheme, disrupting the law and order in the region. The protests were particularly violent in Bihar, where several trains were burnt by the violent mob. Gradually the violence reached other states like Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, where students who were dissatisfied with the Agnipath recruitment scheme resorted to vandalism, arson and violence.
Following the violence, various opposition leaders including the Gandhi scions jumped into the fray. While Rahul Gandhi warned that it could end up like the ‘farm laws’, his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra resorted to fear-mongering and creating hysteria among the armed force aspirants. Union Minister and former Army Chief General V K Singh (retd) slammed the Congress over its opposition to the Centre’s Agnipath Defence recruitment scheme calling it ‘politically motivated’ and ‘misguiding’ the youth.
