Naravane memoir row: Kiren Rijiju cites book to target Nehru, counter Rahul Gandhi

NEW DELHI: Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday defended the Centre’s decision to keep the Henderson Brooks-Bhagat report on the 1962 India-China war classified, as a political row erupted in Parliament over Leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi being stopped from quoting the “unpublished memoir” of former Army Chief General MM Naravane.In a post on X, Rijiju described the report as a sensitive defence document and said it should not be used for political purposes. He wrote, “Our Govt is led by a matured leader. Since 1962, the Henderson Brooks-Bhagat Commission report has remained secret. It indicted the Nehru Govt for the humiliating defeat at the hands of the Chinese PLA. Our Govt has never declassified it as a defence matter that can't be used as a political tools.

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The Henderson Brooks-Bhagat report was prepared by Lieutenant General Henderson Brooks and Brigadier General Premindra Singh Bhagat and was commissioned by then Acting Army Chief General JN Chaudhuri to review the Indian Army’s operations during the 1962 war with China, reported ANI. The report continues to remain classified.Rijiju also reshared a post from 2024, in which he highlighted India’s border infrastructure development.

The minister’s comments follow a row that erupted after Rahul Gandhi attempted to quote from the “unpublished memoir” of former Army Chief General MM Naravane during the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in the Lok Sabha.The Congress leader was referring to the 2020 India-China military standoff in eastern Ladakh when he cited the memoir, drawing strong objections from BJP members. During his remarks, Gandhi accused PM Modi of “not fulfulling responsibility” during the 2020 clashes along the Line of Actual Control.Gandhi continued to raise the issue of the August 2020 India-China confrontation but was repeatedly interrupted by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and later by Home Minister Amit Shah, who asked him not to quote from any unverified source. General Naravane was the Army Chief at the time of the Ladakh standoff. The excerpts cited by Gandhi were recently published by an online portal.