Indian Army Reviews Former Chief General Naravane's Memoir Revealing Ladakh Standoff Insights: Report

The Indian Army is reportedly scrutinising a memoir authored by former Army chief General (retired) M M Naravane.

The memoir reveals a conversation General Naravane held with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the evening of 31 August 2020.

This conversation transpired after the Chinese PLA troops and tanks were spotted moving in Rechin La on the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.

Excerpts from the memoir, Four Stars of Destiny, were released by the news agency Press Trust of India on 18 December.

Penguin Random House, the publisher, has been instructed to refrain from sharing excerpts or soft copies of the book until the review is over.

The Ministry of Defence is also said to be involved in the exercise “at some level”.

The memoir offers a detailed insight of the 2020 military confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh, encompassing the Galwan Valley conflicts, and the Agnipath scheme. Originally, the book was set to be released this month.

General Naravane told Indian Express that he had fulfilled his responsibility by submitting the manuscript to the publishers several months ago.

"It is up to the publishers to tell whether there is a delay or not. They are the ones in touch and are not expected to tell me everything,” he was quoted as saying by IE.

Last month, excerpts from General Naravane's book were cited by the PTI, highlighting a conversation between him and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

This communication took place on 31 August 2020, during a time when the Chinese were mobilising tanks and personnel at Rechin La.

The report details General Naravane's recollection of Singh's instructions, as well as a series of phone conversations that took place that night between the Defence Minister, the External Affairs Minister, the National Security Advisor, and the Chief of Defence Staff, concerning the delicate situation.

Following Singh's phone call, General Naravane describes how his mind was flooded with a myriad of thoughts.

“I conveyed the criticality of the situation to the RM (Raksha Mantri), who said he would get back to me, which he did, by about 2230 hours," General Naravane said in his memoir.

“He said that he had spoken to the PM and that it was purely a military decision. ‘Jo ucchit samjho woh karo’ (Do whatever you deem is appropriate). I had been handed a hot potato. With this carte blanche, the onus was now totally on me. I took a deep breath and sat silently for a few minutes. All was quiet save for the ticking of the wall clock,” General Naravane wrote in his memoir.

The book reveals some details about the deadly Galwan Valley clashes and stated that Chinese President Xi Jinping will not forget 16 June 2020 any time soon as PLA troops suffered “fatal casualties”, for the first time in over two decades, in the incident.

The book further delves into the Agnipath scheme for recruitment of soldiers, airmen, and sailors into the Defence services. It explores the numerous facets of the scheme that were debated prior to its official announcement.

At present, serving officers of the armed forces and bureaucrats are governed by specific rules for publishing a book. However, the situation becomes less clear when it comes to retired officers.

For example, under Section 21 of The Army Rules, 1954, it is stipulated that no person under the Act shall publish in any form whatever or communicate directly or indirectly to the press any matter in relation to a political question or on a service subject or containing any service information, “or publish or cause to be published any book or letter or article or other document on such question or matter or containing such information without the prior sanction of the Central Government,” or any officer specified by the Central Government in this regard.

However, these rules may reportedly not be applicable to a member of the Armed Forces who is authoring a book that is not related to their profession or is of a literary or artistic nature.

While there are no specific rules for retired Army officers, the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972, which were amended in June 2021 by the Department of Personnel and Training, had barred retired government servants, who have served in intelligence or security-related organisations, from publishing any information related to the organisation after retirement without prior permission.

Although these rules do not apply to the three Defence services, retired Armed Forces staff should also comply with these expectations, according to the source cited in the IE report.

“A top services officer is privy to a lot of confidential information. So, if they are documenting it in a book or article, it might need prior government sanction,” the source was quoted as saying by IE.

Several serving and retired Army officers have written books on various military-related subjects in the past. Books written by former Army chiefs include one by General V P Malik (retd) titled ‘Kargil: From Surprise To Victory’ and ‘Courage and Conviction: An Autobiography’ by General V K Singh (retd), a Union minister.