I congratulate you, General saheb, for clarifying that your book remains unpublished. It was needed. However, that’s only half the clarification.
Because, now that the matter has entered the public domain, it would also be appropriate to clarify whether the claim made by the LoP regarding that night at the Chinese border during your tenure is true or not.
We seem to be drifting into procedural technicalities. The issue is the claim itself, not whether a final version of a manuscript contains it.
Therefore, either confirm that what Rahulji stated in Parliament (and repeated outside too, since you may claim that what is said on the floor of the House is protected and privileged) is accurate, or, with due respect, initiate a defamation suit against him for attributing a fabricated account to you. In fact, you don’t even have to take the trouble of filing the suit. All you have to do is state (yes, simply state, no further evidence will be asked of you, given your stature) that the said incident did not happen, or did not happen in the way Mr Gandhi described. That should suffice.
If you do neither, the reasonable inference is that what was read out (or sought to be read out) on the floor of Parliament (1) did occur during your watch, and (2) was indeed written by you.
You have been a brave soldier and scholar, and have served the nation with distinction. That service commands respect. It is precisely for that reason that some of us expect the same clarity and forthrightness now, in the interest of the country and of truth itself.
Do not let a moment’s hesitation diminish a lifetime of earned honour.
जनरल साहिब, जो बूंद से जाएगी, वह हौद से नहीं आएगी।
