Former Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane’s unpublished memoir Four Stars of Destiny became the cause for a ruckus in the Lok Sabha after leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, quoted excerpts from its typescript on Sunday.
Excerpts from the book were carried in an article by The Caravan.
The Congress leader began his Sunday speech during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to President's Address by quoting the excerpts to counter the BJP’s accusation of “Congress not being patriotic”, and mentioned the phrase "Chinese tanks in Doklam” as mentioned in the book. Gandhi also carried printouts of the magazine which he displayed to support his argument.
This triggered immediate outcry from both Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah. They questioned whether Gandhi was quoting a book that was officially published and authenticated.
“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.” Singh said as Prime Minister Narendra Modi watched. Shah also got up to hit back, saying, “When the book has not even been published, how can he (Rahul) quote from it?”
Speaker Om Birla agreed with the ministers and intervened to point out that “Rules and conventions, too, say newspaper clippings, books, other such things that are not authentic cannot be cited in the House.”
The general’s memoir has been pending the centre’s approval for more than a year.
Gandhi, however, insisted that The Caravan magazine had “100 per cent genuine” excerpts from the book.
“Rajnath ji is mentioned in it,” Rahul Gandhi said, and his fellow Congress MPs urged the speaker to let him quote from the article.
Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav also supported Gandhi, urging the speaker to allow him to continue speaking on the issues related to China.
The memoir is currently undergoing reviews by the Ministry of Defence.
While the reviews are a standard practice, Four Stars of Destiny drew controversy for containing sensitive material regarding issues like the Agnipath scheme and developments related to the Chinese troop movement at the Line of Control, according to a report by The Print.
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Naravane served as Chief of Staff from December 2019 to April 2022.
