Bipin Rawat's statement on NE Border situation provokes parties; Urge army chief to stay out of politics

Indian Army chief Bipin Rawat has trigerred controversy by his statements liniking the illegal influx of immigrants from Bangladesh to the growth of the Muslim-centric All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) in Assam.

Speaking at a conference organised by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on issues facing the North East region earlier this week, Rawat had claimed that a "planned" influx from Bangladesh is taking place as part of a proxy warfare by Pakistan with support from China, (Western neighbour and northern neighbour as he called them) with an aim to keep the area under disturbance.

He also referred to the increase in the Muslim population in Assam in recent decades and cited the rise of the AIUDF and said, "There is a party called AIUDF. If you look at it, they have grown at a faster rate than the BJP grew over the years. The AIDUF is moving at a faster pace in Assam."

The comparison of one political party with another has attracted critical reaction from the AIUDF as well as some other political parties slamming Rawat.

Taking to Twitter, AIUDF chief Maulana Badruddin Ajmal denounced the "political statement" and urged the army chief to not exceed his constitutional mandate. He also said that the rise of "secular and democratic" parties like AIDUF and Aam Aadmi Party has been due to misgovernance by big parties – the oblique reference being to BJP and Congress.

The Indian Army came out with a clarification that that there was nothing religious or political in the talk.

But the AIUDF leader did not agree with the army's clarification and asked Rawat why he invoked the name of particular political parties. Also, Aminul Islam, MLA from AIUDF retorted that the party is growing because it works for the downtrodden. The AIUDF, formed in 2005 with an aim to represent the cause of Muslim community, currently has three parliamentarians in Lok Sabha and 13 legislators in the Assam state Assembly.

The All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), another Muslim party, headed by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi criticised the army chief for making the analogy. In a tweet, Owaisi said that it was not the army chief's job to comment about the rise of political parties.

The BJP has not responded to Rawat's statement so far, but the Congress requested Rawat to stay out of politics. "As the army chief, he should not be making political statements. He should be working as a thorough professional," Congress leader M Veerappa Moily told the media outlet.

Earlier also, Rawat had kicked up controversy through his statements. On 15 January, he trod nearly the same ground by commenting on Kashmir's education system. Rawat had claimed that schools in Jammu and Kashmir were spreading a "disinformation campaign".

"The other issue is the madrassas and masjids — what is being informed to them (the students) or incorrectly informed to them is through the madrassas and masjids. I think some controls have to be exercised there and that is what we are looking at," he had said.