00:00The big story we are breaking at this hour has got the first reaction of General Naravane
00:05after that big controversy. Penguin had put out two statements. General Naravane, the former
00:10army chief is now endorsing that statement that has been made. He has reposted the publisher
00:16Penguin's statement. Penguin Random House had issued two statements and the former army
00:21chief's book was not published is what Penguin Random House had said, Maria. And it's now
00:26running into us. Around 19 hours ago, Penguin, which is the publisher of this book, had said
00:31that this is not a published book. It had said clearly that no copies of the book in print
00:36or digital form have been published or distributed or sold or otherwise made available to the public
00:43by Penguin Random House. This is the publisher for this book. And General Naravane now saying
00:50that this is the status of my book. So let's be clear what was being quoted by the leader
00:54of opposition on the floor of the house was content of an article from an unpublished book.
01:02This is not a published book. There is a distinction that was being made by the treasury benches that
01:07it is one thing to use the floor of the house for quoting published books. This particular
01:12book has not got clearance from the Ministry of Defense. And that is the reason why it remains
01:17an unpublished book. Well, the fact of the matter is that does this really or the question really
01:22before is, is that whether this puts an end to that controversy or not? I don't think so.
01:26Shivani also has been tracking that big story. Shivani Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition,
01:31while casually speaking to reporters today, made a statement in parliament talking about the fact
01:35that either of the two are lying. He believes that General Naravane is not lying. What more in this
01:42big saga of this book that is being published, republished, this conversation continues in that
01:48sense, isn't it?
01:49Sneha, it's very important, sir, that General Naravane has broken his silence, though very briefly,
01:55but it has a very strong meaning. What he has done, he has quoted the statement that was given out by
02:00Penguin yesterday. And he says that this is the status of the book, in which the statement says
02:06that the book has not been published yet. It has not been given out. Any copies have not been given
02:12out. That means whatever Rahul Gandhi has been holding in the parliament is not being endorsed,
02:16either by Penguin or by General Naravane. So that is a very strong and a very brief message by General
02:22Naravane. And this controversy has been on since days now. It's been almost 10 days, Sneha. But this is
02:29the first time when after 10 days, General Naravane has broken his silence and said that what Penguin says
02:35about the book, that it has not been published, is true. And that is the status of his book.
02:40So it's an endorsement of a statement that has been made by the publisher, in this case Penguin,
02:45Random House, that says this book is not published. Rahul Gandhi spoke about it as well. There's been the
02:50argument of the Treasury benches that where is this book. The opposition argues otherwise. Now the
02:56opposition, particularly being led by the Congress here, says that why talk about whether this book is
03:00published or pre-published stage? That is immaterial. The fact is that the contents of the
03:05book are going to, in fact, worry the government. And that's the reason why they are, in fact,
03:10so perturbed is what the opposition has said. The controversy, of course, has erupted over the
03:14former army chief's book, which is pre-published. General Naravane, for the first time after this
03:19controversy erupted, has broken his silence. He's, in fact, endorsed Penguin Random House's statement.
03:25A tweet that was put out by Penguin Random House. I'm going to go back to Shivani. He continues
03:30to be with us. You know, Shivani, the fact is Penguin Random House not once, but twice have put out a
03:36clarification, talking about the fact that it's very different from it's been published or pre-published
03:41and the fact that the publisher holds the rights to the book, isn't it? In a way, also a snub to the
03:47leader of the opposition who had, in fact, taken this book to Parliament, you know, spoken about it.
03:52Contents, that is something that Penguin Random House has also indirectly spoken about.
03:56Certainly, Sleha, what Penguin has done in its two important statements and now what General
04:02Naravane has also supported and endorsed this statement by Penguin means that whatever Rahul
04:07Gandhi has been claiming is not the part of the book that Penguin has published. Because,
04:12you know, the publisher is denying any publishing, any copies or circulation of any such copies,
04:18it's calling it illegal. And it also says that it will go by law if any of these copies are
04:25there with anybody. So, for that matter, it's also indicating that will Penguin go by law against
04:34LOP Rahul Gandhi, who has been holding the copy that has not yet been published and cleared by the
04:39MOD, not being published and circulated by the publisher itself. And now General Naravane is also
04:45endorsing that statement. That's right. The big question is whether Penguin Random House is going to
04:50take this up legally or not. At least they've hinted at the fact that legal remedies are open for them.
04:55I'm going to thank you, Shivani and also my colleague, Maria, for their perspective on that story.
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