Aligarh: Police in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday marched on roads with bulldozers to instill fear among the youth protesting against Agnipath, the Centre's new armed forces recruitment scheme.
Bulldozers were seen accompanying the police during their flag march on Monday in the Aligarh district. The flag march was led by SP Rural Palash Bansal. Aligarh had witnessed large-scale violence during the protests against the new armed forces recruitment scheme. A few days ago, protesters had set the Jattari police station on fire and torched several police vehicles.
The move triggered widespread criticism from the opposition leaders who targeted the government against the actions and called it 'hooliganism'. Samajwadi Party spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan Chand said that the government was continuously using bulldozers to scare the common man. At the same time, Congress spokesperson Pankaj Tiwari said that the bulldozer march comes under the category of making a "mockery" of democracy and the Constitution and the government should take immediate action in this matter.
Former DGP KL Gupta also termed the move of Aligarh Police as "illegal". He said those opposing Agnipath were not mafia members or goons but mere students who needed to be explained about the scheme and not threatened by bulldozers.
