BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Monday hit out at his party's MLA for calling ‘Agnipath' protesters “Jihadis” , saying that youths of the country “melt their bones” to serve in the army and that peaceful demonstration is everyone's right.
Taking to Twitter, the Pilibhit MP, who has often taken a divergent view from the party on various issues, shared a video of BJP MLA from Bihar Harishbhushan Thakur Bachhaul, in which the lawmaker is seen calling the protesters “jihadis” and “Khalistanis”.
"Jihadis opposed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi were behind the violence and arson that took place in Bihar during protests against Agnipath and they felt emboldened by utterances of 'big leaders' of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD (U),” Bachhaul says in the video.
Gandhi took exception to the lawmakers' tarring everyone with the same brush and extolled the youths who join the army and the efforts they put in the process.
"When the farmers came out on the road for their rights, they are 'Khalistani', now youngsters come on roads for recruitment in army, they are 'Jihadis'. Youths melt their bones like Dadhichi with a sense of service to Mother India, and then get a job in the army. Peaceful demonstration in democracy is everybody's right," Varun tweeted.
Gandhi was among the first one to raise questions on the Agnipath scheme which seeks to recruit soldiers on four-year contract, saying if a government is elected for five years then why youths should be limited to four years of service in the armed forces.
He had also said it was not appropriate for a sensitive government to "strike first and think later", when it comes to the armed forces, security, and the youth's future.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
