Naravane Calls Memoir Row 'Not Warranted', Moves On With New Books

Former Army chief Gen Manoj Naravane has come out with two books since his unpublished memoir, “Four Stars of Destiny”, caused a controversy earlier this year and looking back, he said it was “not warranted” to unnecessarily quote and drag him into the limelight for the book.

According to the general, who just published "The Curious and the Classified: Unearthing Military Myths and Mysteries," he has since moved on, authored two books, and will shortly publish a third.

“The Ministry of Defence had asked the publisher to put it on hold till it was vetted. As far as I am concerned, the matter rested there, and I have moved on…so that is a closed chapter. And unnecessarily quoting me and dragging the unpublished book into the limelight and indirectly me to the limelight was I think not warranted,” Naravane claimed.

Since the memoir had not yet been released, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was prohibited from using passages from it in the Lok Sabha in February of this year.

Since the episode, Naravane's writing career has changed; his most recent work is "supposed to be an entertaining read and not a serious academic endeavour."

"The Curious and the Classified: Unearthing Military Myths and Mysteries”, published by Rupa Publications, explores some of the most riveting nuggets about the legends and lore of the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force.

Naravane in the book traces the origins of the ubiquitous military greeting “Jai Hind” from the freedom movement to its adoption by the Indian armed forces.

He said that “Jai Hind” was first used by the Indian Air Force and only later embraced by the Army and Navy, adding that the standard practice of saluting was originally silent, with regiments adding their own greetings like “Sat Sri Akal” or “Ram Ram”.

“It was initially the Air Force that started saying ‘Jai Hind’, and we have now followed that across all three services. With the salute we say ‘Jai Hind’, and even in lectures we greet with ‘Jai Hind’.

"But where does this ‘Jai Hind’ come from? You realise it has got much deeper roots. And that was a revelation to me also. So it was something even I did not know about, I must have said ‘Jai Hind’ a million times,” Naravane said.

The former Army chief delves into the legends of Badluram, a soldier of the Assam Regiment, and a military mule named Pedongi.

Despite Badluram's death in the Battle of Kohima in 1944, the company that was under siege continued to receive the rations that were assigned to him, which helped them survive the conflict.

Major M T Proktor, an officer in the British Indian Army, was inspired by the story to compose the upbeat song "Badluram ka Badan," which is performed at events and has become the Assam Regiment's unofficial regimental anthem.

“...the lyrics go 'Badluram ka badan zameen ke neeche hai. Lekin uska ration hum khaate hain' and it became a very famous song. It is a very footstumping song and you can dance to it and it raises your morale. Although people have heard the song, very few know it has got such deep roots in an actual battle which turned the tide of probably the Indian course of history,” he said.

On the legendary mule Pedongi, captured by Pakistan in 1971, which escaped and returned to its unit through minefields, Naravane said the animal was honoured with retirement and served 37 years.

“The Pakistanis started using it to carry their loads and at one point of time this particular mule had a machine gun and some ammunition loaded on it and it decided to comeback home. It escaped its captors, negotiated the treacherous terrain and the mine fields, and came back to its unit through sheer homing instinct,” the general recalled.

“In a way, it was an act of valour, bravery, and loyalty. It was then showered with honours and awards and it was also decided that it would no longer carry any loads unlike any other mules and was put into sort of retirement till it died of natural causes after 37 years at Bareilly,” he added.