NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Monday registered an FIR over the circulation of an unpublished book of ex-Chief of Army Staff General Naravane on social media, cops told news agency PTI.A row erupted over General Naravane’s book after Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi cited excerpts from the former Army chief’s unpublished memoir and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “not fulfilling responsibility” during the 2020 India-China military clashes in Ladakh.
Speaking to reporters outside the Parliament the Congress leader said, “The speaker is saying that this book does not exist, Rajnath ji has said this book does not exist. This is Naravane ji’s book wherein he has written the account of Ladakh…Narendra Modi ji did not fulfil his responsibility.”Rahul Gandhi’s insistence on reading purported extracts from the yet-to-be-published Naravane’s book shone the spotlight on the rules and regulations that restrict senior military officials from revealing classified information or crucial leadership decisions even after retirement.Meanwhile, Penguin Random House, which holds the publishing rights, said 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 them.“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 publishing house wrote on X.There has been no official word from the author or even the ministry on the status of the book.Senior military officials, particularly those dealing with classified information, are subject to regulations under the Official Secrets Act that restrict the publication of books or information even after retirement to prevent such classified material from becoming public.While a general one-year “cooling-off” period exists for taking up commercial or private employment, regulations for publishing secret content require prior government clearance.“Four Stars of Destiny”, a memoir of Naravane, who was Army chief from December 31, 2019, to April 30, 2022, remains unpublished due to pending clearance from the defence ministry regarding sensitive details on the 2020 Line of Actual Control (LAC) standoff and Agnipath scheme.If the said rules and regulations are violated, the government can take legal action and such violations can also lead to the withholding of part or all of the pension of the military official concerned, as per CCS (Pension) Rules. There are chances that if the memoir is published, it could “flare up” the LAC situation with China.In May-June 2020, Indian and Chinese troops engaged in violent face-offs along the LAC in eastern Ladakh and Sikkim, most notably during the June 15, 2020, clash in Galwan Valley that resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers. There were casualties on the Chinese side as well. This marked the deadliest confrontation in decades, leading to major troop escalations.Under the then General Naravane’s command, India and China held a series of ground-level talks that led to “disengagement” in a phased manner from the stand-off areas. As of today, the situation along LAC is characterised by a “thaw” following a series of disengagement agreements, yet high-level military forward deployment from both sides persists.
