Army chief Bipin Rawat on Thursday criticizedviolence during protests over the citizenship law, saying "leaders are notthose who lead masses in arson and violence".

Speakingat an event in Delhi today, General Bipin Rawat, who is due to retire onDecember 31, has spoken out against the massive nationwide protests against theCitizenship Act for the first time.

He said, "Leadership is all about leading.Therefore what is so complex about leadership, if it's all about leading?Because when you move forward, everybody follows. It is not that simple. Itappears simple, but it's a very complex phenomenon."

"Even amongst the crowd, you find leaders… But leaders are those who lead people in the right direction. Leaders are not those people who lead people in inappropriate directions, as we are witnessing in a large number of university and college students, the way they are leading masses of crowds to carry out arson and violence in our cities and towns. This is not leadership," the Army Chief said.