Former Army Chief MM Naravane reacts amid controversy over his memoir; shares status of Four Stars of Destiny

Amid the massive controversy over his unpublished memoir, Four Stars of Destiny’, former Army Chief General MM Naravane has apparently endorsed the position stated by the publisher Penguin Random House India (PRHI) on the status of the book.

In his first reaction since the controversy began when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tried to quote from his book during the Lok Sabha debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address, General Naravane shared the PRHI statement on X regarding the status of the book. “This is the status of the book,” the former Army Chief said.

Advertisement

This is the status of the book. https://t.co/atLtwhJvl0

— Manoj Naravane (@ManojNaravane) February 10, 2026

In the statement he shared, PRHI clarified that the book has not yet been published. It said that that announcement of pre-order doesn’t mean publication of the book.

The publisher said that it holds “the sole publishing rights for the book Four Stars of Destiny, a memoir by General Manoj Mukund Naravane, former Chief of the Indian Army” and that circulation of any form of the memoir would ammount to copyright violation.

The PRHI statement came after Delhi Police registered a case, taking cognisance of reports that a pre-print copy of the unpublished book was being circulated online without mandatory official clearance.

The police found in its preliminary probe that a type-set PDF copy of the book with the same title and apparently prepared by Penguin Random House India Private Limited, was available on certain websites.

Following the PRHI statement, Rahul Gandhi had said that he trusts the former Army Chief over the publisher.

“Penguin says the book has not been published. But the book is available on Amazon. Gen Naravane has tweeted, ‘Please buy my book’ in 2023. I believe Naravane ji over Penguin. Do you believe Penguin over Naravane ji? I believe Naravane ji has made certain statements in his book that are inconvenient for the Government of India and the Prime Minister of India. Obviously, you have to decide if Penguin or the former Army Chief is telling the truth,” the Congress leader added.

The controversy had erupted last week when Rahul Gandhi cited a magazine article on Naravane’s book to claim that Chinese tanks had entered the Indian territory during the 2020 Ladakh standoff.

However, the government claimed that the book has not yet been published and cannot be quoted in the House.