The intrigued Proxy Wars

It’s a familiar fact. In the world of geo- politics, where there is perennial struggle for supremacy, the fighting will be through shadow boxing. Always, there will be a battle within the battle that can be described as ‘proxy war’.

The same fact is valid for the state as well as national politics of many countries that pretend to survive on the pillers of democracy. Of course, the arenas and prizes may be different, but the root cause is same – Fight for Supremacy ‘at any cost’.

Currently there’s an ongoing stretched rounds of curious battle, within India, involving ruling government led by BJP and the opposition led by various regional parties.

The first round - After winning election in 2019 and a year before key state elections in the Northern Belt, Modi gambled calculative by introducing the three farm laws by late 2020. The opposition countered the move with the help of certain farming communities and associations who kept the agitations alive for almost one year. Covid Second wave acted as nemesis for opposition, where they were unable to keep up the momentum of agitations in limelight for longtime.   Meanwhile, by assessing the ground realities, Modi escaped smartly and controlled the damage by repelling the new farm laws.

( Image: Farmers' protest Credit: Navbharat Times) 

Now coming to the second round - The ruling governments always try to come up with catchy schemes particularly before election year. The BJP led Central Government has come up with AGNIPATH( path of fire),  a scheme for short-term( for 4 years) contractual recruitment of soldiers into the armed forces. This was done after extensive consultations with former army officers and servicemen.

But the move has provided a tailor-made situation for opposition parties. They are exactly working with the same formula used for supporting farmers’ protests earlier – play with sentiments and emotions.  They have succeeded in touching the emotional chord of the youth. The result is the huge nation-wide protests especially in the opposition ruling states that turned violent in some pockets.

There’s another internal proxy war going on between opposition parties, as all the regional players are claiming their stake to be projected as the ‘chief architect’ for next national election battles. The bigger the protests in their area, the stronger will be the future claims.

Young protesters from many regions strongly believe that the central government plan to hire temporary soldiers will shatter their dreams of securing permanent military jobs that guarantees fixed salaries and pensions, paving a way for insecurity.  

( Image: Strong protests from youth  Credit: The National Bulletin)

To counter, the centre has raised the age limit now. There is announcement of clear-cut plans about the jobs that 75% of the ‘Agniveers’ (new recruits) would get after completion of their stint in defense forces. The defense minister has approved for 10% reservation for Agniveers in defense ministry jobs. Not only that.  Agniveers will get a compensation of rupees one crore if they sacrifice life in serving the nation. Several states have also come up with assurances about giving priority to agniveers in state police jobs.

Still the protests against the new Agnipath Scheme grip the nation during this weekend and demonstrations escalated across many states.

For Modi, It’s not an easy task to come out unscratched because dealing with youth is an entirely different proposition. The ground battles are different and opposition may run away, as usual, with a piggyback support from innocent youth.

( Image credit: India TV)

Amitabh’s  Agneepath( 1990) and  Hrithik’s Agnipath( 2012 ) on screen were meant for excitement and entertainment . Set with political backdrop, after another decade, we are witnessing a real one ‘AGNIPATH- 3’ and that is turning out to be ugly already.

Compiled, Edited & written by

Krishna Kishore Boddapati

Kishore.boddapati@gmail.com