Written by Umamah Bakharia

The latest protests in India have been sparked by the new arm hiring plan. Protestors are demanding that the government scrap its plan to hire soldiers on a fixed four-year term, which they say would shatter their dreams of a secure job.

Several opposition political parties in India have given their support to the protests, however, the government has refused to cancel the plan. Due to this, some states shut down the internet and suspended train and bus services.

Speaking to Radio Islam International, Indian lawyer and activist, Fozail Ayoubi says this scheme was implemented after the number of army recruits was declining.

“The country was not happy with this in the sense that this is very temporary in nature and that there are no pensionary benefits barring in mind that there will be a certain retirement benefit,” says Ayoubi.

He adds that this is temporary recruitment as the regular recruitment process will continue.

The Indian army is currently one of the biggest armies in the world. “The indian army is very professional in its conduct so as a service it is been seen as a very respectable one but the scheme is for short term, that is the hitch,” says Ayoubi.

Last week, India saw another protest after a senior member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Nupur Sharma made controversial comments about the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H).

“If something is being said about the prophet, then everybody speaks up because that is something that is close to everybody heart,” says Ayoubi.

Even though the protest on the comments has subsided, India’s national security adviser has been reported as saying that India’s image has been dented.