Indian army chief called out for public criticism of Citizenship Act protests

NEW DELHI: Indian army chief General Bipin Rawat has drawn criticism from opposition political parties for his public statement about the protests sweeping the country over a controversial law that appears to target minority Muslims.

Speaking at an event in the Indian capital, General Rawat denounced opposition parties for joining the protest demonstrations staged by students against Citizenship Act.

“Leadership is all about leading. When you move forward, everybody follows… But leaders are those who lead people in the right direction. Leaders are not those people who lead people in inappropriate directions, as we are witnessing in a large number of university and college students, the way they are leading masses of crowds to carry out arson and violence in our cities and towns. This is not leadership,” General Rawat said.

His comments were met with an angry response from Congress and other groups .

“Army Chief Bipin Rawat speaking against #CAAProtests is wholly against constitutional democracy. If Army Chief is allowed to speak on Political issues today, it also permits him to attempt an Army takeover tomorrow!!” – tweeted Brijesh Kalappa, a spokesperson of the Congress.

Muslim MP Asaduddin Owaisi also called the Indian army chief.

“Leadership is knowing the limits of one’s office. It is about understanding the idea civilian supremacy and preserving the integrity of the institution that you head,” tweeted Owaisi, who is also chief of the AIMIM.

General Rawat, who is due to retire on December 31, has spoken for the first time against the massive nationwide protests against the Citizenship Act.

At least 20 people have died, mostly in Uttar Pradesh, in clashes between protesters and the police, who have also been caught firing at the crowd in many cases.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had denounced the destruction of public property during the protests, saying rights went along with duty.

“I want to ask people who resorted to violence in Uttar Pradesh to sit at home and ask themselves whether what they did is good or not. They destroyed buses and public property that belongs to the future generation,” he said.