TMC mouthpiece links ex-Japan PM Shinzo Abe’s killing with Agnipath to target Centre


The Trinamool Congress has latched onto the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to target the Centre over the Agnipath military recruitment scheme.

In a front-page story published in party mouthpiece ‘Jago Bangla’, the TMC stated that Abe was killed by a former Japanese defence personnel who wasn’t getting a pension.

Abe was shot in the neck and chest while campaigning in western Japan on Friday. He was pronounced dead five-and-a-half hours later after going into cardio-pulmonary arrest and showing no vital signs.

The shooter, identified as 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, was immediately arrested. Police said he had worked for three years in Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Forces, also known as the Japanese Navy.

READ | Shinzo Abe shooter was in Japanese Navy: Here’s what we know about him

The TMC went on to compare the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Forces with the Agnipath scheme, alleging that the Modi government intends to employ youth in the defence forces for a short term and let them go four years later without pension and other retirement benefits.

The connection is based on the fact that the shooter was in the defence forces. According to media reports, Yamagami lost his job after serving for three years. He was unemployed and not getting any pension.

The report claims that the assassin targeted Abe out of frustration because he was jobless.

On Friday, Congress leader Surendra Rajput drew a similar comparison between the shooter’s motive for attacking the former PM and the Agnipath scheme. In a tweet, he said, “Yamagami, who shot Shinzo Abe, had worked in Japan’s SDF i.e. Army without pension.”

JAPAN’S SELF-DEFENCE FORCES

The Japanese Self-Defence Forces are the military forces of Japan, which includes Japan Ground Self-Defence Force, Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force, and Japan Air Self-Defence Force.

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

SHINZO ABE ASSASSINATED

Shinzo Abe was assassinated on Friday on a street in the western city of Nara by Tetsuya Yamagami, who opened fire on him from behind with a handmade gun. The attack stunned the island nation of Japan, which has some of the strictest gun control laws anywhere.

Police said Yamagami admitted to attacking Abe, telling investigators he had plotted to kill him because he believed rumors about the former leader’s connection to a certain organisation that police did not identify. The assassin reportedly said his grudge against Abe was not about politics.

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