Centre undertook ‘huge expense’ by bringing in Agnipath scheme, says Meenakshi Lekhi

Pointing out that countries “such as Singapore, Israel” compulsorily “requires children after their schooling to work with the army”, Lekhi said, “Here, the government is taking (recruiting) you officially and also paying you Rs 22 lakh in four years… Where else does one get Rs 22 lakh in four years? This is a huge expense that the government is undertaking.”

The union minister further said people “attempting to spread false rumours” about the Agnipath scheme are probably the same people who were “spreading false rumours” during the Covid-19 pandemic about vaccine.

“ It is not necessary that there is a ladai ka mahaul (war-like situation), but even without a war-like situation, there can be a disaster-like situation which the country sees frequently so if there are people trained (dealing with disasters) that work will be done,” Lekhi added.

Part of the event included 75 children dressed as the 75 freedom fighters who have been written about in the book.

One such child dressed in jail uniform with ‘786’ written over the uniform caught Lekhi’s attention, who then had a conversation with the child after the cosplay.

Sharing the conversation with the gathering, Lekhi said, “A child’s shirt had ‘786’ written on it. I asked him deliberately, ‘what is this 786?’ He did not know. He has seen so many films where 786 is written on the accused’s uniform but he does not know what is the significance of 786.”

“So these kind of influences are there in the society even today which have the power to affect the mentality, and change the thought process of children. And thus there is a need for a counter influence which would work to change children’s mentality and thought processes, teach them to work towards betterment of the country, which inspires them,” the minister added.

The number 786 draws from Islamic culture, said to be the sum total value of the letters of ‘Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim’, translating to ‘In the name of Allah, the compassionate, the merciful’.

The book was launched by the Hindu Spiritual and Service Foundation under its Initiative for Moral and Cultural Training Foundation.

Among freedom fighters listed in the book include lesser known figures such as of Vasantrao Hegishte and Rajab Ali Lakhani, who had staved off hordes of rioters during the annual rathyatra in 1946 from Jamalpur’s Jagannath Temple.

Ahmedabad-based Veer Vinod Kinariwala, who was shot dead by a British officer while waving the Indian flag in front of Gujarat college on the first day of the Quit India Movement finds a mention, as does Indian poet from Gujarat Jhaverchand Meghani.