Lt Gen Kalita stresses society's crucial role against extremism at Gauhati Press Club

Guwahati, Nov 21: General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C, Eastern Command) Lt Gen Rana Pratap Kalita on Tuesday said that society plays a big role ensuring no youth get mislead to join extremist organizations.

A Guest event was organised at Gauhati Press Club attended by Lt. Gen. Rana Pratap Kalita and The Assam Tribune's Deputy Editor Ramanuj Dutta Choudhury.

While speaking at the Guest event organized at Gauhati Press Club, Lt. Gen. Kalita said, “In the last 10 years, we have witnessed how infrastructure has improved and developments are taking place in Assam. Society has a big role to play to ensure no youth is misguided to join the extremist organizations. Irrespective of our religion and caste, we should be taught to be identified as an Indian first.”

When asked about why there are lesser number of Assamese jawans in the Indian Army, Lt. Gen. Kalita said, “To achieve the dream of becoming an Army officer from Assam, I had to make a lot of struggles at the start like the other professions. For this day, I will extend my gratitude to my parents, teachers, colleagues who always supported me throughout the journey.”

Meanwhile, speaking on the ongoing wars in different countries, the officer said, “Everyone is aware about the war between Russia and Ukraine, a conflict between Israel and Hamas and there is also instability in our neighbourhood. The whole geopolitics is changing and this will not only impact our country but also the security forces. The technology developments which are taking place are making an impact on the art of warfare. The war fighting methodology is also changing. That is why the year 2023 has been identified as the year of transformation by the Indian Army.”