Sir — General Bipin Rawat is no stranger to controversy. He is known to speak his mind and that sometimes diminishes his stature. His latest remark that the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), a regional party in Assam, has grown faster than the BJP was unwarranted. It was clearly outside the remit of the Army chief. This is not the way to promote ‘national security’.
It is simply not the job of the Army chief to compare the fortunes of political parties or seek to halt demographic changes. The innuendo that the “illegal migrants” form AIUDF’s support base and explain its growth is not lost on anyone. It was wrong of him to paint Muslims in Assam as “illegal immigrants” or “Pak proxies”. In these days of hyper-nationalism associated with the present ruling dispensation the Army chief more than anyone else must take extra care to hold himself aloof from controversial issues.