Rahul Gandhi cites unpublished Naravane memoir, says Modi failed in his duty during 2020 India-China standoff

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday cited what he described as an unpublished memoir of former Army chief Gen MM Naravane to allege that Prime Minister Narendra Modi failed to fulfil his responsibility during the 2020 India-China standoff in Ladakh and passed crucial decisions on to the military leadership.

Speaking to reporters in the Parliament House complex, Gandhi held up a copy of the purported memoir and said the government had repeatedly denied its existence. “The Speaker has said this book does not exist, the government has said it does not exist and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has also said it does not exist. I want every youngster in India to see that this book exists,” he said.

Gandhi claimed that the former Army chief had documented a detailed account of events during the Ladakh crisis but that he was not being allowed to quote from the text in the Lok Sabha.

Citing the memoir, Gandhi alleged that when Chinese tanks entered Indian territory, Gen Naravane sought directions from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval but did not receive an immediate response. He said Singh later told Naravane that he would seek guidance from “the top”.

According to Gandhi, the memoir states that there was a standing order not to open fire on Chinese forces without political clearance, even though the Army leadership wanted to respond as the incursion had taken place within Indian territory. He alleged that the Prime Minister’s eventual message to the Army chief was “jo uchit samjho woh karo” (do what you think is appropriate), which Gandhi interpreted as a failure of political leadership.

“The Army chief has written that he felt alone and abandoned by the entire establishment,” Gandhi claimed, adding that this was the reason he was being prevented from raising the issue in Parliament.

Gandhi also said he did not expect the Prime Minister to attend the Lok Sabha on Wednesday but added that if he did, he would hand over the book to him.

The government-opposition confrontation in the Lok Sabha escalated on Tuesday after eight MPs were suspended for the remainder of the Budget session for unruly behaviour. The suspended members, seven from the Congress and one from the CPM, were protesting after Gandhi was disallowed for the second consecutive day from quoting an article that referred to Naravane’s unpublished memoir.

Gandhi has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, protesting against being denied the opportunity to speak on what he described as a matter of national security. He also said it was the first time that a Leader of Opposition had not been allowed to speak during the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address.