New Delhi: While his memoir Four Stars of Destiny remains in limbo, former Chief of Army Staff General M.M. Naravane has come up with a new book, a fictional military thriller titled The Cantonment Conspiracy.
In January 2024, The Wire had reported that Naravane’s memoir was “awaiting clearance” from the Union defence and external affairs ministries and had been delayed.
The book, which was slated to be released in December 2023, contains a series of revelations, including the former army chief detailing how he was handed a “hot potato” in dealing with Chinese troop movement in August 2020, and how the Agnipath tour of duty scheme caught the armed forces by surprise and was a “bolt out of the blue”.
Naravane announced the arrival of his new book, The Cantonment Conspiracy, on X on Monday (March 3), calling it his “foray into the world of fiction”.
“For those waiting for my announcement. Here it is. My NEW book. It’s a pulsating military thriller – my foray into the world of fiction. The Cantonment Conspiracy,” he wrote.
Described as a military thriller, the book according to the website of publisher Penguin Random House India follows two officers fresh out of the National Defence Academy at a military garrison when a case of assault results in a court of inquiry and a bid to uncover a murder.
While the author page on Penguin Random House India’s website lists Four Stars of Destiny as Naravane’s other book, it remains unavailable on Amazon.
News agency PTI in December 2023 had also published five news stories based on excerpts from the book.
According to the excerpts published by PTI, Naravane wrote that when he was first informed about the tour of duty scheme, “it was more on the lines of a short-service option at the soldier level”.
“However, the prime minister’s office (PMO) was considering this proposal, but with a much wider scope and applicability. In the PMO formulation, not only should the complete intake of the year be short-service based, but it would also apply to all three services.”
“Having become a tri-service matter, it now fell on the CDS [chief of defence staff], General Bipin Rawat, to take the proposal forward, albeit with the army remaining the lead service.”
“We, in the army, were taken by surprise by this turn of events, but for the navy and air force, it came like a bolt from the blue.”
The other revelations in the upcoming book, according to the excerpts published by PTI, include Naravane narrating about the night of August 31, 2020, following a tense situation arising out of the Chinese army moving tanks and troops in the Rechin La mountain pass on the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.
“I was handed a hot potato. With this carte blanche, the onus was now totally on me. I took a deep breath and sat silently for a few minutes. All was quiet save for the ticking of the wall clock,” he wrote.
The Wire has reached out to Penguin Random House India and Naravane about the status of the memoir. This report will be updated when a response is received.
