Trinamool compares Shinzo Abe’s killing with Centre’s Agnipath scheme

Citing former Japan Prime MInister Shinzo Abe’s assassination, the Trinamool Congress has attacked the Centre’s Agnipath recruitment scheme for the armed forces.

The party in its mouthpiece ‘Jago Bangla’ published a front-page story stating that Abe was killed by a former Japanese defence personnel who had completed his three-year service, was unemployed and wasn’t getting a pension.

Shinzo Abe was shot in the neck and chest when he was campaigning in western Japan on Friday and died five five-and-a-half hours later.

Also read: Unemployment situation extreme: Chidambaram on IAF receiving 7.5 lakh applications under Agnipath

The shooter, 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, was immediately arrested. He had worked in Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Forces, or the Japanese Navy, for three years. He was jobless and did not have any pension, according to reports.

Police however was quoted as saying by reports that Yamagami told investigators he had plotted to kill Abe because he believed rumours about the former leader’s connection to a certain organisation that police did not identify.

The Trinamool sought to compare the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Forces with the Agnipath scheme, alleging that the Modi government plans to hire thousands of youth in the defence forces in a similar manner without pension or other retirement benefits.

The report claimed that Yamagami targeted Abe out of frustration because he was jobless.

On Friday, Congress leader Surendra Rajput too drew a similar comparison, saying, “Yamagami, who shot Shinzo Abe, had worked in Japan’s SDF i.e. Army without pension.”

The Japanese Self-Defence Forces comprise Japan Ground Self-Defence Force, Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force, and Japan Air Self-Defence Force.

The personnel in these forces receive a one-time payment after their retirement, but there is no regular pension scheme for them.