Indian trains set ablaze in protests against military hiring changes

Protesters in India threw stones at police and set fire to train coaches on Friday as demonstrations against a new military recruitment process raged for a second day, police said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government announced this week an overhaul of the recruitment process for the 1.38 million-strong armed forces, aiming to bring in more people on short, four-year contracts to lower the average age of personnel.

But many potential recruits object, saying they should be allowed to serve longer than four years. Opposition parties and some members of Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party say the system will lead to more unemployment in a country grappling with joblessness.

Police fired shots in the air on Thursday to push back stone-throwing crowds in the northern sate of Haryana. Protesters gathered again on Friday, torching train coaches in at least two stations in the eastern state of Bihar and disrupted rail services, police said.

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