That’s precisely what Rahul Gandhi threw out there yesterday, and it’s got everyone bumble.Last week in Parliament, Rahul Gandhi pulls out this hard copy of Four Stars of Destiny, the memoir by former Army Chief General Naravane. He’s gesture it around, saying it has stuff about the 2020 Ladakh standoff with China that the government doesn’t want discussed—things like Galwan clash details. BJP folks, including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Speaker Om Birla, shut him down hard, saying the book’s not even bring out, so you can’t quote it or debate it in the House.
Rahul keeps pushing, claims he has the book, and questions why national security topics are being silenced. Then Penguin Random House India steps in with a statement: “We hold exclusive rights, but the book hasn’t been published in any form—print, digital, nothing. No copies out there from us. Anything circulating is a copyright violation, and we’ll take legal action.”
That could’ve ended it, right? Nope. Rahul fires back: “Penguin says it’s not published, but General Naravane himself tweeted back in December 2023, ‘My book is available now, follow the link, happy reading, Jai Hind.’ So, either the General is lying—or Penguin is. And I don’t think a respected ex-Army Chief would lie.” He even asked reporters straight up: “Do you believe the ex-Army Chief or Penguin?”
Adding to the twist, General Naravane broke his silence on X (Twitter) and shared Penguin’s statement, writing simply, “This is the status of the book.” Boom— he’s backing the publisher, confirming no official release yet. The book was apparently announced and even up for pre-order years ago, but it got stuck waiting for Defence Ministry clearances (standard for military memoirs with sensitive info). No green light, no publication.
Now the plot thickens even more. Delhi Police have filed an FIR to probe how this “unpublished” manuscript leaked—PDFs floating around, unauthorised copies, the works. They’ve sent a notice to Penguin asking questions, trying to figure out the source of the leak. How did Rahul get a physical copy if nothing’s officially out? That’s the million-rupee question hanging in the air.
BJP is hammering Rahul, calling it misleading Parliament, baseless allegations, even suspicion on national security. Some are saying he should apologize. Congress side is doubling down, saying the contents are inconvenient for the government, especially on border issues.This whole thing shines a light on how tricky it is for retired military folks to write memoirs in India—clearances can delay or block stuff forever if it touches “sensitive” ops. But right now, it’s pure politics: transparency vs. security, trust in institutions, and who’s really telling the truth. Is this about thrashing facts on China border, or just opposition scoring points? The book’s still not out officially, but the controversy sure is everywhere.
Sources:
NDTV
India Today
The Hindu
Hindustan Times
Times of India
