Compiled by C.ARUNO, ZULKIFLI ABD RAHMAN and R. ARAVINTHAN
THOUSANDS of passengers in India were left in a lurch as 612 train services were cancelled ahead of huge protests expected over the government’s new army recruitment system, Malaysia Nanban reported.
Various groups and social activists had taken to online platforms to call for nationwide protests and strikes termed Bharat Bandh against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to offer four-year contract based military conscription.
The military reform, named Agnipath, is ostensibly intended to modernise the military and lower the average age of the armed forces.
However, it was immediately derided as an attempt at cutting pensions and pushing out more senior members.
Some states such as Bihar saw immediate protests following the announcement which turned violent and ended with trains being set on fire.
After the online calls for protest began picking up steam, some states took the step of cancelling the train services which left thousands of passengers scrambling for alternatives.
However most states did not see large protests or strikes.
Small demonstrations were reported in many states with some of them turning violent but no major incidents were reported.
The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.