New Delhi: Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday reacted to the FIR filed by Delhi Police over the alleged circulation of former Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane’s “unpublished memoir” and to the clarification issued by its publisher, Penguin Random House India and accused the BJP-led government of being rattled by “inconvenient” revelations and linked the issue to the Indo-US trade deal.
Speaking to the media in Parliament premises, Rahul Gandhi questioned the Penguin’s claim that the book had not been published and suggested there were contradictions between the publisher’s stand and statements made earlier by General Naravane.
He cited a tweet by the General Naravane in which he had shared an Amazon link to purchase it.
Rahul Gandhi said, “Here is a tweet from Mr Naravane which says – ‘Just follow the link to my book’.”
The former Congress chief said, “The point I am making is – either Mr Naravane is lying or it is Penguin which is lying. I don’t think the former Army chief will lie.”
The Lok Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli said that despite Penguin’s assertion that the memoir had not been released, it appeared to have been publicly promoted in the past.
He said, “Penguin says the book has not been published. But the book is available on Amazon. Gen. Naravane has tweeted, ‘Please buy my book in 2023.’ I believe Naravane ji over Penguin. Do you believe Penguin over Naravane ji?”
He said, “I believe Naravane ji has made certain statements in his book which are inconvenient for the government of India and the Prime Minister of India. Obviously, you have to decide if Penguin or the former Army chief is telling the truth.”
The remarks from the Gandhi scion came a day after Penguin Random House India (PRHI) issued a statement asserting that it holds exclusive publishing rights to the memoir Four Stars of Destiny and that the book has not yet been officially released.
Even by evening, Naravane also broke his silence and he quoted the tweet with the statement of Penguin India and said, “This is the status of the book.”
The Penguin India in a statement has said that “it 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 also stated that that no copies of the book had been made available in any format.
The publisher also warned that any version of the memoir currently in circulation 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,” it said, adding that legal action would be pursued against “unauthorised dissemination”.
Meanwhile, on Monday the Delhi Police registered an FIR and tasked its Special Cell with investigating the alleged leak or circulation of the manuscript in digital and other formats.
The issue, which erupted as a mjor controversy in the Budget Session after Rahul Gandhi was seen holding up what he claimed was a copy of the memoir in the Parliament complex last week.
He had earlier sought to cite excerpts from the book in the Lok Sabha from February 2 onward but was not allowed to read the memoir on the grounds that it had not yet been officially published.
ENDS
