India’s Chief of Army Staff has taken a public stand on protests against the amendment Citizenship act, saying that instigating large crowds to turn violent and carry out arson doesn’t amount to leadership.
“Leaders are not those who lead people in inappropriate directions, as we are witnessing in a large number of universities and college students…the way they are leading masses of crowds to carry out arson and violence in our cities and towns,” COAS General Bipin Rawat said at an event.
“This is not leadership.” Soon, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi — the leader of the AIMIM party — said leadership “is about knowing the limits of one’s office”.
“It is about understanding the idea of civilian supremacy and preserving the integrity of the institution that you [Gen Bipin Rawat] head,” he tweeted.
Several people have died in the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens.
The demonstrations were initially fierce in the Northeast, but spread nationwide and grew in intenstity after the Delhi Police were accused of using excessive force against students at Jamia Millia Islamia, a public university.