Karnataka Home Minister and Congress leader Dr. G Parameshwara stated on Friday that the Constitution grants individuals the freedom to practice any religion of their choice and prohibits the implementation of laws like the Uniform Civil Code in a democratic nation.
“Our Constitution provides an opportunity to practice any faith you want to. You have also allowed those people to stay in India. They are born, brought up, and dying here and you try to meddle with their social life, and societal commitments. Do you want to call them second-set grade citizens in this country? The Constitution does not provide for such laws to be brought in and why do you want to send them to Pakistan? If they are against the law of the land, punish them,” stated the Congress leader to ANI.
Parameshwara strongly criticized the ruling government, stating that the BJP either does not regard India as a democratic nation or does not desire democracy. “BJP leadership thinks that this is not a democracy or they don’t want a democracy. That is why now we as Congressmen keep saying that democracy is in danger, protect the democracy,” he stated.
When inquired about the Agniveer scheme as a means to curb unemployment, the Karnataka Minister remarked that there is a recruitment cap in the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Therefore, the government should prioritize filling these existing vacancies.
“How will you do that? You already have a ceiling in the Army, Navy and Air Force that you can recruit only these many people. There are 30 lakh sanctioned vacant places in GoI. Why don’t you fill them? What stops you from filling those vacancies? Instead of Agniveer, already sanctioned vacancies are there in govt, fill them up and give them employment. There are people who are well qualified. My appeal to PM Modi is to fill these vacancies so that at least youngsters will get employment,” he stated.
The Agniveer Scheme, introduced in June 2022, is designed for the recruitment of soldiers within the armed forces. This scheme is specifically for enlisting soldiers, excluding officers. Those enlisted through the Agneepath scheme will be designated as Agniveers.
The scheme allows the three services to recruit young individuals aged between 17.5 and 21 years for a four-year term, with an option to retain 25% of them for an additional 15 years. In 2022, the upper age limit was increased to 23 years.
Karnataka, with its 28 Lok Sabha seats, is set to vote in two phases on April 26 and May 7. During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress and JD-S alliance faced a defeat against the BJP, which secured a record 25 seats, leaving only one seat each for Congress and JD-S.
The 2024 Lok Sabha Elections are scheduled to occur in seven phases beginning April 19, with the vote counting slated for June 4.