India trains set on fire in protest at military hiring changes

• Protesters in India hurled stones at police and set fire to train coaches on the second day of rallies against a new military recruitment process.
• Police fired tear gas and water cannon into the air to disperse stone-throwing mobs in the northern state of Haryana.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a revamp of the recruitment process for the 1.38 million-strong armed forces

LUCKNOW: Protesters in India flung stones at police and set fire to train coaches on Friday, as per police, as protests against a new military recruiting process continued for a second day.

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However, many prospective recruits oppose, arguing that they should be permitted to serve longer than four years.

Opposition parties and some members of Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party believe that the system will increase unemployment in a nation struggling with unemployment.

Thursday, police fired bullets into the air to disperse stone-throwing mobs in the northern state of Haryana.

Police reported that protesters gathered again on Friday, setting at least two train stations in the eastern state of Bihar on fire and disrupting rail service.

Sanjay Singh, a senior police official in Bihar, told Reuters that more than 100 people were arrested in protests across the state on Thursday. “They have blocked trains in ten places  today,” Singh added.

Hundreds of protesters gathered in the southern city of Secunderabad to pelt police with stones, indicating that the demonstrations were spreading.

“They have also set fire to properties at Secunderabad railway station,” A.R Srinivas, a police official, said.

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Soldiers were formerly recruited independently by the army, navy, and air force, and the average length of service for the lowest levels was 17 years.

Since recruitment had been halted for the past two years, mostly due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the government announced on Friday a one-time expansion of the scheme’s maximum entry age to 23.

“The government has decided that a one-time waiver shall be granted for the proposed recruitment cycle for 2022, according to a statement from the defence ministry.