By Admin 
There was an uproar in the budget session of Parliament on 2 February 2026 over a statement by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi. Rahul started narrating the statement from the book of former Army Chief Naravane, but Speaker Om Birla stopped him midway. After all, what is written in this book?
What is the book For Stars of Destiny: An Autobiography?
The name of this book is ‘Four Stars of Destiny: An Autobiography’, which was written by former Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane. Naravane was the Chief of the Indian Army from 31 December 2019 to 30 April 2022. This is a book of 448 pages. It tells the complete story of General Naravane’s 40-year military career. This includes stories like the first meeting with China in Sikkim, the encounter with the Chinese army in Galwan, firing on the LoC, implementing ceasefire with Pakistan and preparing the army for modern warfare.
According to the report of Economic Times, the book is still unpublished i.e. it has not been printed. It cannot be purchased in India, although it is listed on Amazon, but not available. This book was originally scheduled to be released in January 2024, then was postponed to April 2024. Currently, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) and the Indian Army are reviewing its security, because it contains sensitive information. Like Ladakh standoff of 2020 and Agneepath scheme. The publisher has been asked not to circulate extracts or soft copies. General Naravane had said in 2025 that now it is in the hands of the publisher and MoD.
What major revelations were made in the book?
According to the report of The Federal, there are two big revelations in this book…
1- 2020 Ladakh standoff (with China): On the night of 31 August 2020, the Chinese PLA sent tanks and soldiers to Rechin La Pass on the South Bank of Pangong Tso. The tanks were a few hundred meters away from the Indian Army’s positions. The situation was close to ‘tense and breaking point’. Northern Command Chief Lieutenant General Yogesh Joshi called General Naravane at 8:15 pm. Naravane immediately called Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, NSA Ajit Doval, CDS Bipin Rawat, and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and asked, ‘What are my orders?’
In the unpublished book, Naravane wrote that he was handed a ‘hot potato’, all the responsibility was put on him. He took a deep breath, sat quietly for a few minutes and listened to the ticking of the clock on the wall. No clear firing order came. There were protocols not to fire ‘from top to clearance’.
The book also mentions the Galwan clash that took place in June 2020, where the PLA suffered ‘fatal casualties’ for the first time in 20 years. Chinese President Xi Jinping will not forget this.
2- Agneepath Scheme: The army was surprised by this scheme launched in June 2022. It was ‘Bolt from the Blue’ for the Navy and Air Force. The original proposal of the Army regarding this scheme was a small pilot project, retaining 75% of the recruits and releasing 25%. But in the final scheme only 25% were retained, whereas the rule was made to release 75% after 4 years. Naravane called the starting salary of Rs 20 thousand ‘unacceptable’. He wrote, ‘How to compare the life that a trained soldier can give with daily wage labour?’ Later the price was increased to Rs 30 thousand.
What did Rahul Gandhi say in Lok Sabha?
During the budget session on 2 February 2026, the Motion of Thanks was being debated in the Lok Sabha. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi showed a printout of a magazine article, which contains articles from the typescript of the book. Rahul Gandhi said that the articles in the book are ‘100 percent genuine’. He mentioned a section related to China, especially the Doklam standoff of 2017 and the situation of Chinese tanks in Ladakh in 2020.
Rahul Gandhi said that the book of the former Army Chief shows that the Chinese tanks were very close to the Indian positions, i.e. a few hundred meters away on the Kailash range. He raised questions on the government by linking it to national security.
This book is currently under review because it contains sensitive details. Rahul Gandhi used it in the Lok Sabha to question the government, which caused a huge uproar. The book throws new light on big issues like national security, Ladakh standoff and Agneepath.