New Delhi [India], February 4 : After a massive uproar erupted in the Lok Sabha on Monday after Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi referred to an unpublished memoir of former Army Chief General MM NaravaneCongress MP Karti Chidambaram on Wednesday emphasised that the government canot present the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha from quoting a book whose excerpts were in the public domain.
Speaking to ANI, Karti Chidambaram ,"There are many, many publications. If a member wants to speak about quoting a book, he is free to speak. Today, in the modern world, publication does not mean physical publication; it could also be e-publication. Publication means putting it out in the public domain...You can't prevent the leader of the Opposition from quoting a book which is in the public domain, whose excerpts are in the public domain," Chidambaram said.
Karti emphasised that if anyone disagrees with the content of the book being quoted, only the author can do so.
"If anybody has to disavow the contents of the book the leader of the opposition is quoting, it is the author who has to disavow it. And who is the author? The author is the former Chief of Army Staff, General MM Naravane. Except for him, nobody can disavow it. Simple as that," he added.
Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that the government was not allowing the former Army Chief General MM Naravane's "memoir" to be published in India.
The Congress leader reinvoked General Naravane's unpublished memoir on border tensions with China, stating that it was published "abroad."
Speaking to reporters on the Parliament premises, Gandhi said, "It's available abroad, I think. It's published abroad. Govt is not allowing it to be published here. That's what I believe. The book is available. You can imagine where the book (that he is carrying today) has come from. You think about where it came from."