Army chief draws fire for ‘political statement’

A day after Army chief General Bipin Rawat said All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) has grown faster than BJP, at least three opposition parties — CPM, AIUDF and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen — came down heavily on him for making a “political” statement and sought the President’s intervention. Congress refused to comment on the controversial remark but in the same breath alleged that the BJP regime would “do anything” to divert attention from the PNB scam.

During a conference in Delhi on bridging gaps and securing borders in the northeast, the Army chief, while referring to the saffron party winning only two seats in 1984, had said, “There is a party called AIUDF. If you look at it, they have grown in a faster time-frame than the BJP grew over the years.” He had made the remarks on AIUDF “moving at a faster pace in Assam” to buttress his point on the increase in Muslim population in several districts of the state in the backdrop of the National Register of Citizens being updated and finalised to detect illegal immigrants there.

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman refused to comment on the remarks when asked by reporters at a function in Lucknow.

Hitting out at Gen Rawat, AIUDF president and Lok Sabha MP Badruddin Ajmal told TOI, “The Constitution has given him the responsibility to lead the great Army and not to monitor the rise and fall of any political party. He has stepped outside the limits the Constitution has set for him.” Ajmal said AIUDF is not a party of Muslim people. “Every election, we field 25-30 Hindu brothers as our candidates…our victories come from genuine voters, enlisted by the EC.”

Asked about Gen Rawat’s statement, leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, said, “I would not like to comment on this. But I would simply say that in the coming days you will get to hear many outrageous things. For diverting the attention, they will do anything because now PNB fraud has caught the attention of the entire nation.”

CPM politburo member Brinda Karat said Gen Rawat’s comments were “inappropriate” and seemed to be aimed at “politicising” the Army. “He has crossed the constitutional Lakshan rekha that separates the Army and politics. The President of India, as supreme commander of the Army, should step in and ensure this is not repeated,” she added.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi wanted to know if the Centre agreed with the Army chief’s remark, adding that the former’s silence would mean that Gen Rawat had made the statement at the behest of the government and “with its blessings”. He tweeted, “Politics in the Army is poison. Keep off it.”