Former Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane said on Thursday that he enjoyed writing his unpublished memoirs Four stars of destinyThis book sparked a political storm and suspended Parliament in early February, and she expressed her hope that the government would allow the book to be published “sooner or later.”
“I felt great satisfaction from writing the book. To quote”Yes, Minister“, “It (clearance) could happen at the end of time… sooner or later. But I prefer to say I’ve moved on. If that happens, that’s all well and good; If not, I’ve moved on. Let’s not dwell on the past,” he said, a day after releasing his new book. The Stranger and the Classified: Uncovering Military Myths and Secrets.
Naravane was the Army Chief from December 31, 2019 to April 30, 2022 – a period of heightened military activity in eastern Ladakh amid the standoff along the disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC). His allegations in the unpublished book, regarding a sensitive moment during the military standoff between India and China that almost led to a shooting war in August 2020, rocked Parliament in February.
His account of the developments that took place in the Kailash mountain range on the southern side of Pangong Tso on August 31, 2020, and the alleged lack of immediate policy direction on how the Indian Army would respond to the Chinese provocation, was at the heart of the controversy.
He said, “The dispute that occurred in Parliament has nothing to do with me. I don’t know why people are dragging me into it. I was sitting quietly at home and was not affected or disturbed in any way. I was busy writing my books.”
The stagnant battle began on February 2 when Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi tried to point out the events detailed in the memoirs in the House and the government objected strongly as the book was not published.
“You can raise any issue in Parliament by quoting anything, but that does not mean that the character or events in question should jump into the fray. I have written the book on the basis of memory only. It is not an official history. It was not my intention to write a post-retirement autobiography. It was not as if I was taking notes throughout my service. I should not have been drawn into this controversy as the book is not published yet,” Naravane said, adding that the government supported him in Parliament.
He had previously stood by his publisher’s position that the book had not been published and had not been “published, distributed, sold or made available to the public in any way.”
“I have done my job of writing the book. To publish it or not to publish it is an afterthought. If anything should have happened, it should have happened after the book was published. All of these things were premature. It is still between the publisher and the Department of Defense. As for me—let’s move on. People can keep throwing things here and there…I have better things to do.”
One of these is The Stranger and the Classified: Uncovering Military Myths and SecretsNaravane said it did not require any official statement as its contents were merely stories.
“An intelligent, informative and entertaining book that explores the myths, mysteries, some lesser-known gems and the unique culture of the Indian Armed Forces. It is the twists of phrases and quirky traditions that are most interesting… I am sure my curious and engaging book will appeal to all; soldiers and civilians alike,” former Army Chief, General V P Malik (retd), wrote in his ‘Praise for the Book’.
The book is full of charming nuggets, as author Amish writes in the introduction. “We’ve heard of the Molotov cocktail; but do you know about the Bangalore torpedo? Or that the origins of the salute may lie in Roman protocol or Indian Apache protocol? Or how important it is to return a salute? Or that ‘point in time’ may be related to the ‘door open time’ of an aircraft? Or even why a major is higher than a lieutenant while a major is lower than a lieutenant general.”
These are likely to arouse the curiosity of anyone interested in military matters, but all discussions of Naravane’s published works are likely to always turn to his greatest unpublished works.
The manuscript of any book containing sensitive operational details must be approved by the Army’s Additional Directorate General of Strategic Communications before publication. This wing comes under the Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Strategy). Depending on the contents, the Additional Directorate General of Strategic Communications may send the manuscript for examination to the relevant directorates, including those dealing with military operations and military intelligence. The book may not be published unless this approval is obtained.
In the case of Naravane’s memoirs, the manuscript was not submitted to the Additional Directorate General of Strategic Communications for necessary approvals. After some controversial excerpts were published in December 2023, the Ministry of Defense wrote to Naravane and the publisher, asking them to submit the book to the Army for approval before publication. The Army reviewed the book in detail, recorded its observations on the topics it covered, and sent it to the Ministry of Defense for a final decision. The Department of Defense has not yet cleared the former president’s book.
