Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday cited a December 2023 social media post by former army chief MM Naravane stating that his book was “available now” to rebut Penguin Random House India’s assertion that the memoir has not yet been published.
Speaking to reporters in the Parliament House complex, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said he believed the former army chief over the publisher.
Rahul read out Naravane’s post on X (then Twitter), which said, "Hello friends. My book is available now. Just follow the link. Happy reading. Jai Hind."
“This is the tweet Mr Naravane has made. The point I am making is either Mr Naravane is lying, and I believe the (former) Army chief, I don't think he will lie, or Penguin is lying. Both cannot be telling the truth,” Rahul said.
“Penguin is saying the book is not published. The book is available on Amazon. Gen Naravane has tweeted, as I just read to you, that please buy my book. He tweeted this in 2023. Do you believe Penguin over Mr Naravane? I believe Mr Naravane,” he added.
The Congress leader alleged that Naravane has made certain statements in the book that are “inconvenient” for the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Obviously, you have to decide whether Penguin is telling the truth or the (former) Army chief is telling the truth. That is the issue,” Rahul said.
Pointing to a poster Opposition MPs were carrying near the Makar Dwar of Parliament during their protest, which read ‘Narender Surrender’, Rahul said this has happened, and the Indo-US trade deal happened because of this.
Penguin Random House India (PRHI), meanwhile, reiterated that it holds exclusive publishing rights to General Manoj Mukund Naravane’s memoir titled Four Stars of Destiny and said the book has not gone into publication. The clarification came amid reports of unauthorised copies in circulation and after the Delhi Police registered an FIR over the alleged illegal circulation of the manuscript in digital and other formats.
In a statement issued on Monday, the publisher said, “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.”
It further said that no copies of the book “in print or digital form -- have been published, distributed, sold, or otherwise made available to the public” by the company. PRHI also warned that any version currently circulating would amount to copyright infringement.
“Any copies of the book currently in circulation, in whole or in part, whether in print, digital, PDF, or any other format, online or offline, on any platform, constitutes an infringement of PRHI’s copyright and must immediately be ceased,” the statement said, adding that it would pursue legal remedies against unauthorised dissemination.
According to Delhi Police, a case has been registered with the Special Cell to investigate the alleged leak or breach of a yet-to-be-approved publication. Rahul was seen flashing a purported copy of the book in the Parliament complex last week and has sought to cite excerpts from the memoir in the Lok Sabha since February 2, but has been stopped on the grounds that it has not yet been published.
