Political slugfest over 'caste-based' Army recruitment

New Delhi, July 19

A political row today erupted following allegations by some Opposition leaders that the recruitments under the Agnipath scheme were being carried out on the basis of caste and religion. Hitting back, the BJP said the Army did not discriminate on the basis of caste or religion.

Claiming it was for the first time in the history of India that caste was being asked in the Army recruitment, AAP leader Sanjay Singh tweeted, “Do you want to make Agniveer or Jaativeer?” “The ugly face of the Modi government has come to the fore. Doesn’t Modi ji consider Dalits, backward communities and tribals eligible for Army recruitment? For the first time in the history of India, caste is being asked in Army recruitment,” Singh said. BJP’s estranged MP Varun Gandhi also wondered if patriotism would be decided “on the basis of caste”.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said recruitment was done through a procedure followed for decades and pertained to administrative and operational issues. He accused the Opposition of trying to incite youth and bring them on to the streets.

He said the Army, in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court in 2013, had made it clear that it did not recruit on the basis of caste, region and religion. “It, however, justified grouping of people coming from a region in a regiment for administrative convenience and operational requirements,” he said. “The Congress and AAP always try to put doubts in the mind of citizens from time to time and belittle the Army. This is just an attempt to defame them,” said Patra. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also asserted that no change had been made in the recruitment system. — TNS

Practice prevalent for over 200 years

The Army has been recruiting troops on basis of specific castes and religion for more than 200 years. The British, who formed the Indian Army into a cohesive unit, specified how each regiment will have its intake from specific castes and religions. In 1949, post-independence, an Army order allowed the same system adopted by the British. As of now, over 25 per cent of the Army regiments are single-class regiments.

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