Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition, brought attention to the Rules 349, 352, and 353 of the Procedure and Conduct of Business in the House by citing an unpublished book by former Army Chief General MM Naravane. This causes a big uproar in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
The debate centred on wheather or not Gandhi was permitted to quote from an unpublished memoir. Something that mentioned the india-China border skirmishes at Doklam and Galwan amid acrimonious political conversations.
The problem emerged during the President’s Address discussion. Rahul Gandhi started his speech by quoting a magazine article that included sections from General Naravane’s unpublished memoir, Four Stars of Destiny.
The magazine was judged to be unconnected to the current debate and outside the purview of the House. He was made aware of this by speaker Om Birla. He later had the former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha confirm this. LoP was only able to read a few lines. He read, “Chinese tanks in Doklam,” before the treasury benches cut him off, causing turmoil in parliament.
Why is the book by Gen Naravane viewed controversial?
When Indian and Chinese troops clashed at Galwan in Eastern Ladakh, General Naravane was in command of the Army. The government implemented the Agnipath recruitment during his administration. That caused a great deal of criticism.
On the evening of 15-16 June, 2020, a confrontation between Indian and Chinese troops near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley resulted in the deaths of twenty Indian Army soldiers, including a Colonel. The Chinese sides casualties were never made public.
The subject of Gen. Naravane’s book addresses goverment policy and military actions. It is said to have prompted a review and postponed it’s release In the book, Narvane talks about his conversation with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on August 31, 2020. It was during the tentions with China on the LAC were rising.
Rule 349: What is It?
The standards of behaviour and protocol that members of Parliament are expected to adhere to during debates are outlined in Rule 349. “A member shall not read any book, newspaper, or letter except in connection with the business of the House.” According to clause (i) of the regulation.
However, neither published nor unpublished content is mentioned in Rule 349. 352 and 353 are a couple of the additional rules that are applicable in this situation.
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