Former Indian Army chief General MM Naravane’s unpublished memoir became the centre of a huge ruckus in the Lok Sabha during the Budget Session on Monday as Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi sought to quote a magazine article carrying excerpts from the book’s typescript.
Rahul Gandhi, seeking to counter BJP’s charge of “Congress not being patriotic”, mentioned a phrase “Chinese tanks in Doklam” from the excerpts, at which defence minister Rajnath Singh got up to interject.
With PM Narendra Modi present but quietly watching, Rajnath Singh said, “He should tell us if the said book has been published or not. It has not been published. He cannot claim to quote from it.” He added, “I can say with confidence, the book has not been published.”
Home minister Amit Shah also got up: “When the book has not even been published, how can he (Rahul) quote from it?”
Speaker Om Birla agreed with the ministers and said, “Rules and conventions, too, say newspaper clippings, books, other such things that are not authentic cannot be cited in the House.” He then requested Rahul Gandhi to carry on with his speech without this part.
Rahul Gandhi insisted that The Caravan magazine had “100% genuine” excerpts of the book.
“Rajnath ji is mentioned in it,” Rahul Gandhi said, as his fellow Congress MPs urged the speaker to let him quote from the article. “They (government) can respond thereafter,” Congress MP KC Venugopal told Birla.
But Birla, and later parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju, mentioned rules against such quoting of a book. “… that too when not published,” said Nishikant Dubey of the BJP.
Birla then said, “Even if it’s published, quoting from any book unrelated to House proceedings is not allowed.”
As the argument stretched on, Rahul Gandhi said, “You, speaker sir, do not want me to quote from this magazine; so can I at least describe it?”
“No, I have given my ruling,” Birla said.
Rahul again started talking about “Chinese tanks” at which Rajnath Singh got up yet again.
“This is an effort to mislead the House,” Rajnath Singh said.
‘Won’t mention China’
At this, Rahul Gandhi chose to not mention China but said, “Some country’s tanks were approaching…”
When Birla again stopped him, Rahul asked, “You tell me, sir, what I should speak!”
“I am not your adviser!” Birla replied. “You should follow the rules. You are Leader of the Opposition. The country can decide if you are maintaining the dignity of the position.”
Rijiju then demanded there be a discussion on “what to do with a member (Rahul) who refuses to follow rules”.
Speaker Birla again instructed Rahul Gandhi to only speak on the President’s address: “There is no mention of India-China in that address, so please do not raise issues that negatively impact India’s international standing.”
Rahul argued that international relations, be it with Pakistan, China or others, should be open to debate in Parliament. “Gen Naravane’s book speaks on the character of PM Modi and Rajnath Singh. You should let me raise it. It is not something about China; it is about PM…” Rahul said as per live proceedings on Sansad TV, as Birla interjected mid-sentence to cite rules again.
BJP-led NDA members raised their pitch, as did Opposition benches.
As Birla sought to move on to the next member, Congress ally Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, the ruckus did not stop. And the House was thus adjourned until 3pm.
What’s the fate of Naravane’s book?
Some extracts from Gen MM Naravane’s memoir, which was set for publishing in 2024, were published by a news agency and several outlets in December 2023.
Pre-orders were also taken by Amazon and other e-commerce platforms for the book, titled ‘Four Stars of Destiny’ and to be published by Penguin.
It is reportedly held up pending government permissions.
Amazon still shows a listing, but it’s unavailable for orders.
The accompanying marketing text says: “In 2019, General Manoj Mukund Naravane became the twenty-eighth Chief of the Indian Army. His journey to the highest echelons of the Indian Armed Forces was not short of events both exciting and challenging.”
“In his memoirs, General Naravane recounts the myriad experiences… From his first encounter with the Chinese as a young officer in Sikkim to dealing with them in Galwan when he was Chief, from daily incidents of firing across the LC to implementing a ceasefire with Pakistan, General Naravane takes us through his distinguished career spanning over four decades that saw him serve in all corners of the country,” it adds.
“This is a specialist’s take on the things that make our forces unique, particularly those that deal with the planning and conduct of operations―the raison d’être of the Army. In Four Stars of Destiny, General Naravane shares lessons on leadership and management with universal applicability, and gives us an insider’s perspective on what else needs to be done to make the Armed Forces a more potent instrument of national power, ready to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. General Naravane’s life and career illustrate the strength and resilience required to overcome adversity, and the importance of family and maintaining a work-life balance―something that has been lost sight of in today’s 24×7 work culture,” it further says.
Gen Naravane’s eventful tenure
Gen MM Naravane served as army chief from December 2019 to April 2022. During this period, major military and political decisions were taken.
Most prominently, Naravane was army chief during the June 2020 Galwan clash against Chinese soldiers in which India lost 20 men. This led to a freeze in relations, which have recently seen a thaw, catalysed in part by punishing trade tariffs imposed by the US under Donald Trump.
