The Congress on Tuesday strongly criticised the registration of an FIR by the Delhi Police over the alleged circulation of an unpublished book authored by former Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Mukund Naravane, accusing the BJP-led government of using investigative agencies to deflect attention from serious national issues and silence the Opposition in Parliament.
Reacting to the development, Congress MP Ujjwal Raman Singh said the party was raising concerns mentioned in the book because they were important for the country.
"They should keep doing their investigation, but we are raising things mentioned in that book which are important to the country and a matter of concern. BJP keeps doing such stunts to save itself from important subjects and tries to stop the Opposition in Parliament. I want to say, let the Opposition speak and understand the emotions of the Opposition," Singh told IANS.
Congress MP Mallu Ravi alleged that the FIR was politically motivated and driven by the ruling party. "Delhi Police has registered an FIR because of the BJP people. The BJP government wanted to make it an issue by registering the case. The party is not ready to reply to what the reality is," Ravi said, accusing the government of avoiding substantive answers.
Congress leader Husain Dalwai mocked the government's response, questioning why an unpublished book had triggered such a strong reaction. "Oh! They got so scared of a book. It's surprising. I can understand being afraid of a Chinese attack, but they got scared of a book as well. No matter where the book has come from, what is there to be afraid of? Whatever happened at the border is what has been written in the book. What is different in it?" Dalwai asked.
The Delhi Police earlier confirmed that it had registered an FIR over the alleged circulation of the unpublished book titled Four Stars of Destiny, written by former General (Retd) Naravane.
According to an official statement, the case pertains to the sharing of contents from the book on social media platforms, even though it had not received the mandatory clearance from the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
The FIR was registered hours after a media report stated that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had accessed the unpublished manuscript, which was reportedly not meant to go to press without approval from the MoD. Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has since said that the book "does not exist," while the publisher, Penguin, has also clarified that it did not publish the manuscript.
JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha struck a sharply different note, terming the issue sensitive and warning against politicising national security matters. "This is a very sensitive matter. When the Ministry of Defence did not grant permission, and even the publisher, Penguin, has stated that it did not publish the book, sharing such a book on social media clearly shows that those amplifying it, in their opposition to the government, have gone against the country," Jha said.
The controversy has further escalated tensions between the ruling party and the Opposition, with the Congress insisting that the focus should remain on the substantive issues raised, rather than on attempts to suppress debate.
(With inputs from IANS)
