A political firestorm erupted as Rahul Gandhi, head of opposition in Lok Sabha, showcased ex-Army Chief Manoj Mukund Naravane’s book to journalists, accusing the establishment of deserting frontline troops amid a brazen Chinese tank advance into Indian territory.
‘ skeptics claimed it was fiction—behold the proof,’ Gandhi proclaimed, advocating widespread readership among the youth. He navigated legal hurdles on quoting it formally.
Central to the expose: Naravane’s outreach to Defense Minister Rajnath Singh about tanks at Kailash Ridge. Met with quiet. Escalations to S. Jaishankar and NSA drew blanks. Singh’s deferral to the ‘top’ culminated in a non-committal order—no proactive engagement.
Gandhi hammered home the betrayal: ‘Soldiers yearned to blast those intruders off our land. Instead, leadership’s whisper: ‘Use your best judgment.’ Pure abdication.’
The book’s raw emotion hits hard: Naravane’s sense of profound solitude, abandoned by the apparatus. It questions the spine of India’s response to aggression.
The MP pledged to gift the publication to Prime Minister Modi personally in session. This unfolds against a backdrop of LAC frictions, probing accountability gaps.
Experts weigh in: Does this signal deeper issues in civil-military synergy? Public sentiment simmers, demanding declassification or inquiry. Gandhi’s maneuver not only spotlights Naravane’s valor but ignites a reckoning on protecting those who guard the nation, ensuring future crises don’t echo this isolation.