Karti Chidambaram: Govt suppressing ex-Army chief's 'inconvenient truths'

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram slammed the government for blocking quotes from former Army Chief M.M. Naravane's unpublished memoir in Parliament, accusing them of suppressing 'inconvenient truths' embarrassing to the leadership.

Chidambaram Accuses Govt of Suppressing 'Inconvenient Truths'

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram on Monday slammed the government in the Lok Sabha over its opposition to Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, quoting from the unpublished memoir of former Army Chief General M.M. Naravane. Speaking to ANI, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram accused the government of trying to suppress the voice of former Army Chief General M.M. Naravane.

Speaking to ANI, he said the government has a problem with the author and is opposing quotes from the book, which he claimed contain "inconvenient truths" embarrassing to the leadership. "This government has a problem with the person who said India has a tryst with destiny. Now they have a problem with the person who wrote the book Four Stars to Destiny. So it's very clear there are some very inconvenient truths in the book. I have never seen a government so vehemently opposing a quote from a former army chief, a respected soldier who spent his entire life defending us, who has written an autobiography, and this government is hell-bent on suppressing his voice because they don't want the truth to come out," he said.

He added that the government is using parliamentary procedures to block the book's content from being discussed. "So obviously there are some very, very deep truths in it, which are embarrassing to the leadership of this government, and that is why they are behaving in this way, hiding behind parliamentary procedure, quoting rules which are not really relevant to suppress the voice of the leader of the opposition," he said.

Standoff in Lok Sabha Over Unpublished Memoir

The remarks came amid sharp exchanges in the Lok Sabha earlier in the day during the motion of thanks on the President's Address in the Budget session after Gandhi attempted to quote from a magazine article that cited excerpts from the unpublished memoir of former Army Chief General MM Naravane, referring to the Doklam standoff with China.

The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) objected to the Leader of Opposition's attempt to read from the unpublished memoir, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stating that material from an unpublished book could not be quoted in the House. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla upheld the objection, ruling that unpublished material could not be read out. The standoff led to repeated disruptions in the House, with opposition members demanding that Gandhi be allowed to speak, while treasury bench members insisted that parliamentary rules be followed.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav later supported Gandhi, saying the issue relating to China was sensitive and warranted discussion. The standoff continued for nearly 30 minutes, with disruptions from both sides, as the ruling party maintained that the opposition could not read from an unpublished article or book. Further, Union Home Minister Amit Shah also intervened during the exchange as the House remained divided over the issue, before the proceedings moved ahead amid continued interruption. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)