New Delhi: Former army chief MM Naravane on Tuesday, February 10, shared on X a statement issued by the publisher of his memoir “Four Stars of Destiny” that says no copies of the book “in print or digital form have been published, distributed, sold” or otherwise made available to the public.
“This is the status of the book,” Naravane wrote.
The former army chief shared on the social media platform the statement that was issued on X by Penguin India on Monday night, February 9.
“In light of recent public discourse and media reporting, Penguin Random House India would like to clarify that we hold the sole publishing rights for the book ‘Four Stars of Destiny’, a memoir by General Manoj Mukund Naravane, former Chief of the Indian Army.
“We wish to make it clear that 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 the public by Penguin Random House India,” the publisher said in its statement.
The clarification came after the Delhi Police registered a First Information Report (FIR) over the alleged illegal circulation of the manuscript in digital and other formats.
Rahul Gandhi cites Naravane’s 2023 social media post, which said book is available
Amid the controversy, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday cited a December 2023 social media post by Naravane informing people that his book is “available now”, seeking to rebut the publisher’s statement that the “memoir” has not yet been published.
Gandhi said he believes the word of the former army chief over Penguin.
In another statement, the publisher said an announcement about a book or its availability for pre-order should not be interpreted as publication.
Why is the book controversial?
The controversy centres on excerpts from General Naravane’s book “Four Stars of Destiny,” which has been pending clearance from the Ministry of Defence for over a year. The excerpts, published by the Caravan magazine, detail the events of the night of August 31, 2020, when four Chinese tanks with infantry began moving up a track towards Rechin La after Indian Army personnel had seized strategic heights on the Kailash Range earlier that day.
General Naravane made frantic calls to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, repeatedly asking “What are my orders?”
The memoir states the army chief had “clear orders not to open fire ’till cleared from the very top’.”
Around 10:30 pm, Singh called back after speaking to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and told General Naravane it was “purely a military decision,” instructing him: “Jo ucchit samjho woh karo (Do whatever you deem appropriate).”
General Naravane described this as being handed a “hot potato” and wrote that “the onus was now totally on me.” He ordered Indian tanks forward with guns trained on the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) positions. The Chinese forces halted and no shots were fired.
(With inputs from PTI)
