New Delhi,
Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat today said there was a politicisation of the armed forces and the military “should be somehow” kept away from politics. It was essential that the military stayed away from politics for a vibrant democracy, he said.

“The military should be somehow kept out of politics. Of late, we have been seeing that politicisation of the military has been taking place. I think we operate in a very secular environment. We have a vibrant democracy… the military should stay far away from the polity,” the Army Chief said while speaking at a seminar organised by the United Service Institution.

In the “good old days”, the norm was that women and politics were not discussed in the forces, he said. “However, these subjects are gradually ‘inching’ their way into the discourse and this should be avoided.

Whenever issue (of) linking any military establishment or military personnel where political entity comes in then… that is best avoided,” he said.