Guwahati: All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal on Thursday criticised Army Chief General Bipin Rawat for his “politically motivated” comments and said his job is to lead the nation’s army and not monitor the growth of a political party.
General Rawat has stirred a controversy by saying that AIUDF's growth has been "faster" than that of the BJP in the 1980s. He suggested that AIUDF’s meteoric rise in regional politics may have a direct relation with the influx of Bangladeshis in Assam. He called it a part of “proxy warfare” from Pakistan with support from China.
Saying that he was deeply hurt by the comments, Ajmal said that a party delegation will be sent to meet President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek clarification and register protest over the comments.
"We respect Rawat as the Army Chief but the comment made by him on AIUDF is not within his constitutional jurisdiction,” he said.
“The Army chief's comments that the AIUDF has grown at a faster rate in Assam due to immigration from Bangladesh is absolutely false and politically motivated and this is evident from the results of the last three Assembly polls,” he added. AIUDF had won 10 seats in 2006, 18 in 2011 and 13 in 2016, Ajmal, party MP from Dhubri said.
He, however, said he has deep reverence for the Indian army for the role it has played to protect the country, and said he would not hesitate to meet General Rawat and clear any misunderstanding.
“Hamare dil main chor nahin. Woh hamare bade hain. Darna kis baat ka? (We don’t bear any ill-will in our hearts. He is our elder. Why should we be scared?” he remarked.
Ajmal also pointed out that General Rawat’s statement come a day after the Supreme Court ordered that work on the final draft of National Register of Citizens should be completed by June 30.
“We were the first political party to have taken up the cause of border fencing to stop illegal influx. If we have grown in past 12 years, it is because of votes, and not an abnormal rise. There are thousands of Hindus in our party. If any foreigner has voted for us, let the government identify them and take necessary action,” said Ajmal.
Noting that Assam has a Muslim population of 34 per cent, he said, according to the Army chief's statements, AIUDF should have got the entire Muslim vote but it secured only 13 per cent Muslim votes in the last election.
The Army has come to the defence of General Rawat and said there was nothing political or religious in the talk. “Army Chief just mentioned amalgamation and development in the seminar on North-East organised at DRDO Bhawan on Feb 21" it said in a statement.
(With PTI inputs)
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