The Lok Sabha ground to a halt on Monday after Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi attempted to read out a Caravan article that cited an as-yet-unpublished book by former Army chief General Manoj Naravane.
The Congress MP from Rae Bareli began reading from the article to point to the India-China stand-off at Doklam and Galwan. “Chinese tanks were within a few hundred metres of Indian positions on the Kailash range,” he said as he began his statement on the vote of thanks for the president’s address.
“A young colleague over there (BJP MP Tejasvi Surya) made an allegation against the Congress party; I was not going to raise this issue. But, because he has raised the issue about our patriotism, our understanding of Indian culture, I would like to start by reading something,” he said.
However, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju were among the MPs who strongly objected to the remarks. Singh insisted the book was never published.
Titled Four Stars of Destiny and published by Penguin, the 448-page book is a memoir of General Naravane (retd) who served as the 28th chief of the army staff of the Indian Army from December 31, 2019 to April 30, 2022. It is listed on Amazon but is not yet available in India.
The discussion drifted into a bizarre exchange.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey rose up to mention rule 349(1) of the code of conduct for MPs. “Shall not read any book, newspaper or letter except in connection with the business of the House. They banned Satanic Verses and did not hold a discussion on it. Advani-ji and Atal-ji wanted to discuss it.”
Birla agreed and said he would not allow a discussion like this considering parliamentary rules. Citing the example of a similar submission by his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the speaker added that she had also made a similar submission but on the basis of a published book.
The discussion was muted for a few seconds a couple of times.
However, Gandhi changed track and said he wanted to discuss the magazine.
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav backed Gandhi and stressed the need for a discussion considering the threat from China. “Saavdhaan nahin rahe, toh humne zameenein kuch pehle,” he said, before the mic was cut off.
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju said the ruling has been given. “We want to listen to you…but how will the parliament work like this?...parliament works as per rules.”
However, MP K C Venugopal insisted the Leader of Opposition’s remarks were very well within the ambit of the rules as Gandhi was merely replying to the remarks against the party within the parliament.
The problem was initially that the book was unpublished; when Gandhi offered to rely on the Caravan piece instead, it suddenly became a question of relevance to the President’s Address.
Amit Shah objected to Venugopal, saying the business of the house today was the president’s address. He said the remarks could have been valid had it responded to Tejasvi Surya’s specific allegations.
Venugopal rose up again. But Birla said the Leader of Opposition could speak for himself.
Gandhi then said the President’s address is about a wide range of issues, including foreign policy, China, Pakistan, etc. “Naravane-ji said…” Gandhi said.
“Aap phir aa gaye wahin pe?” Birla said.
Neither side refused to back down following the resumption of House proceedings at 3 pm, with the LOP choosing to refer to the topic once again as one of “national security” and Rijiju accusing him of seeking to demoralise the nation’s armed forces. The House was adjourned once again till 4 pm.
Naravane himself had spoken about the book at a literature festival in Kasauli last October. On Four Stars of Destiny, he had said, “I think it is maturing, like aged wine. The longer it’s there, it becomes more and more vintage; of greater value,” according to The Print. He also reportedly told an attendee, “My job was to write the book and give it to the publishers. It was the publishers who were to get the permission from the Ministry of Defence," adding, “It is still under review for more than a year now.”
Meanwhile, some wondered what this meant for journalistic work being addressed by Parliament.
This article was originally published in the Newslaundry and can be accessed here.