On Shinzo Abe Assassination, TMC’s ‘Agnipath’ Reference

The Trinamool Congress has cautioned the Central government against the Agnipath scheme, pointing to the fact that Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated by a short-service ex-serviceman.

The party claimed that the killing underlined the possible pitfalls of the controversial defence recruitment programme.

The state BJP, however, rejected the apprehension saying no Indian ex-servicemen had ever been involved in any such incident.

“The death of Abe at the hands of an ex-serviceman has only validated the fears of the people over the Agnipath scheme,” the TMC’s mouthpiece ‘Jago Bangla’ (Wake up, Bengal) said in an article on Saturday. The attacker lost his job in the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force after three years of service and he was not getting any pension, it claimed.

Agniveers too would not get any pension after their four-year service period is over, the article pointed out.

“The BJP is playing with fire in the name of Agnipath scheme…. We have seen what has happened in Japan. An ex-serviceman killed the former Prime Minister,” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said on Sunday.

The BJP said that such apprehensions are baseless.

“We have never heard of any such incident in which an ex-serviceman of our country is involved. The TMC is just trying to politicise the matter,” state BJP spokesperson Samik Samik Bhattacharya said.

Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated on Friday, July 8, 2022, by a gunman who opened fire at close range as the hugely influential politician delivered a campaign speech. The murder of the 67-year-old, who had been Japan’s longest-serving leader, stunned the nation and prompted an international outpouring of grief and condemnation.

It was all the more shocking given Japan’s strict gun laws and low rates of violent crime, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida describing it as a “barbaric act” that was “absolutely unforgivable.”

Abe was shot shortly before noon while campaigning in the western region of Nara ahead of weekend upper house elections. He was flown by helicopter to the Nara Medical University hospital, where he was pronounced dead several hours later.

“Shinzo Abe was transported to (the hospital) at 12:20 pm. He was in a state of cardiac arrest upon arrival,” said Hidetada Fukushima, professor of emergency medicine at the hospital. “Resuscitation was administered. However, unfortunately he died at 5:03 pm.”

Fukushima said Abe had suffered two gunshot wounds to the neck and died of massive blood loss, despite being administered enormous transfusions.