Amid raging memoirs row, ex-Army Chief Naravane shares ‘status’ of his book

New Delhi: Former Army Chief General (Retd) M.M. Naravane broke his silence over the raging controversy, pertaining to his unpublished memoirs on the Galwan stand-off in 2020 between India and China, even as the no-holds barred confrontation between the government and Opposition intensified to a new level on Tuesday.

General (Retd) Naravane took to his social media handle and shared the current “status” of the book, that has been at the centre of the government-Opposition tussle and also primarily the reason behind the week-long gridlock in the Lok Sabha.

“This is the status of the book,” General Naravane wrote in a post on X while sharing the clarification from the publisher Penguin about his unpublished book titled ‘Four Stars of Destiny’.

Parliamentary proceedings, hit for over a week now over the stalemate on his memoirs regarding the India-China 2020 conflict, saw the bitter fight escalating to a new level today, as Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi disputed claims of the book being under the review of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and claimed that it was very much in public domain.

Speaking to the Press, he stated that the book was available on e-commerce platforms like Amazon and also said that the General in question, himself urged people to read his recollections from the Galwan face-off in the book, back in 2023.

The Penguin Random House, though, was quick to address the issue stating that it was the sole publisher of the book and also warned of legal recourse in case of its unauthorised dissemination.

General Naravane’s one line statement on the status of the contentious book, sets the records straight and settles the controversy, ignited by the Congress’ claims of the book being in public domain and accusations against the Centre of blocking its release because of “discomforting truths.”

Earlier, Penguin clarifying on the pre-release status of the book, said in a statement, “The book has not gone into publication. No copies of the book – in print or digital form – have been published, distributed, sold or otherwise made available to public by Penguin Random House India.”

“Any copies of the book currently in circulation, in whole or part, whether in print, digital or PDF or any other format, online or offline, or any platform, constitutes an infringement of PRHI’s copyright and must immediately be ceased,” it added.

IANS