Know your limitations, Asaduddin Owaisi tells Army Chief

Hyderabad: MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi in a spirited reply to Army Chief General Bipin Rawat’s remarks on the anti-Citizenship Law said he should know his limitations. He said the right to protest is a constitutional right and General Rawat’s statement undermines the Modi government.

He also hit out at RSS chief, Mohan Bhagwat over his remarks that “India is a Hindu society irrespective of religions and diversity.” Mr Owaisi said it the RSS mentality that this beautiful country should have only one religion, and that won’t be possible as long as we have the constitution.

In response to General Rawat’s comments on the student protests, the MIM leader said the Army Chief should know the limitations of the institution he heads. “It is a known fact, and the constitution also demands, that in civilian matters the army will not interfere.”

He said whatever the Army Chief has said about the student protests is wrong. With such a statement he is undermining the Modi government. “If the Army Chief’s views are right, then I would like to ask the government whether Modi himself was wrong, as he writes on the website of the Prime Minister of India that he had participated in agitations as a student during the Emergency. Jayprakash Narayan had given a call to students during the Emergency to join the agitation against Indira Gandhi. They forget that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had removed Admiral Vishnu Bhagat. For what reason was he removed? In a democracy his statement undermines the government, which is wrong,” Mr Owaisi said.

Mr Owaisi said that the right to protest is a constitutional right. If violence takes place, you have the police, paramilitary forces, not the Army to deal with it.