Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently broke her silence on the ongoing debate over ex-Army chief General MM Naravane’s memoir. The FM, in an interview with The Indian Express, said that during her brief stint as Defence Minister, she had known General Naravane as a highly respected senior officer.
She further added that there was no reason for the government to have any issue with a General who was appointed Chief of Army Staff during its own term, stressing that the government respects him and has no problems with him. Sitharaman served as Union Defence Minister during the NDA’s first term from September 2017 to May 2019. “We respect him. We have no issues about him,” she said.
Naravane’s unpublished book ‘Four Stars of Destiny’ was recently highlighted in the Parliament by Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, where he targeted the Modi-led government over the excerpts mentioning a military face-off with China in August 2020.
Was Naravne’s book banned? Sitharaman says ‘ M gave a blank cheque to Armed forces’
The Finance Minister clarified that the book has not been banned. She told IE that the publishers may have sent it to the Defence Ministry for clearance, which has not yet been approved.
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She further added that the book mentions that the PM told the Armed Forces to take whatever action they felt was right, giving them full freedom to decide. Sitharaman added that this showed the Prime Minister Modi’s trust in the military, and said this approach was very different from earlier leadership, referring to past remarks made during border disputes with China.
“The Prime Minister gave a blank cheque to the Armed Forces. What more do you want to say? It’s not like (Pandit) Nehru saying, ‘Arunachalis, you take care of yourself’. Or over Ladakh, not a blade of grass grows (two remarks often quoted for Nehru while dealing with border dispute with China),” Sitharaman said.
Rahul Gandhi ‘quoted General’s name and mocked’: Sitharaman
The Finance Minister accused Rahul Gandhi of showing the book in Parliament only to draw attention by using the name of a respected Army General. She said the government’s objection was not to the book itself, but to an incorrect quote that Gandhi tried to raise in the Lok Sabha.
She said Gandhi used the General’s name to make his point and then mocked it, which forced leaders like Nishikant Dubey to cite passages from other books in response. She added that while Gandhi quoted from one source, the government had several others, and questioned how he could criticise a certain style of politics while using such methods himself.
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Sitharaman also told The Indian Express that Gandhi should learn from leaders like Pandit Nehru, who showed deep respect for political opponents. She recalled how Nehru publicly expressed regret when his strong critic HV Kamath lost an election, saying Kamath deserved to win. She said this example showed Nehru’s respect for the Opposition, and asked why Gandhi did not follow the same values instead of accusing the government of ignoring Nehru’s legacy.
The Finance Minister said Gandhi opening his speech by referring to General Naravane revealed his true intent. She added that rather than shifting his stand, Gandhi should have admitted that he was quoting from an unpublished book and a newspaper article and then continued his speech. |
