Rahul Shows Book Outside Parliament
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday stepped up his attack on the Modi government over the 2020 India-China border standoff. He displayed a printed copy of former Army chief General MM Naravane’s unpublished memoir, Four Stars of Destiny, outside Parliament. The book is still awaiting clearance from the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
Gandhi showed the copy to reporters and said the government wrongly claimed that the book did not exist. Earlier this week, he tried to quote from the memoir in the Lok Sabha. However, the Speaker stopped him after objections from the BJP-led NDA. The ruling party said citing an unpublished book violated parliamentary rules and threatened national security.
Government Defends Its Stand
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh repeated in the Lok Sabha that the book had never been published. He said the claims linked to it were incorrect. Home Minister Amit Shah and other BJP leaders supported this view. Speaker Om Birla also backed the ruling and blocked Gandhi from quoting the text.
Gandhi responded by saying he only referred to excerpts published in The Caravan magazine. He argued that the article was already in the public domain. Holding up the copy, he said, “See, it exists — the book the government says does not.”
Claims on China Border Crisis
Rahul Gandhi claimed that General Naravane wrote about informing top leaders of Chinese troop movements near the Line of Actual Control. He said the leadership failed to give clear directions at first. According to Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi later told the Army chief, “Jo uchit samjho, woh karo.”
Gandhi said this message showed weak political leadership during a serious crisis. He also claimed that Naravane felt isolated at the time. The former Army chief has not responded publicly to these remarks.
Memoir Still Under Review
General Naravane has earlier confirmed that the MoD is reviewing his memoir. Such scrutiny is common for books by senior military officers. The publisher planned to release the book in April 2024. However, the government has not cleared it yet.
Online platforms like Amazon and Flipkart still list the book as unavailable. Meanwhile, the dispute has disrupted Parliament for three days. Repeated protests and adjournments followed. Several MPs also faced suspension. The controversy has now become a major flashpoint in the ongoing clash between Rahul Gandhi and the Modi governmentover national security and transparency.
