‘Excessive secrecy’: Congress Manikam Tagore calls for transparency in defense book guidelines India News

New Delhi: Congress MP Manikam Tagore on Friday criticized the government’s “culture of excessive secrecy” on defense and armed forces issues. He shared an image of a news article stating that the center is developing detailed guidelines for serving and retired armed forces personnel who wish to publish books in the future. The proposed guidelines will outline the process that should be followed before any manuscript is approved for publication.In a post on X, Tagore said rules should not be used to silence voices or hide uncomfortable truths from the public.“By 2029, when Rahul Gandhi One of the guiding principles that must change upon becoming Prime Minister is this culture of excessive secrecy. National security must always be maintained. But using rules to silence voices and hide uncomfortable truths from the Indian people is unconscionable. “He added, “Our armed forces deserve dignity. Our democracy deserves transparency.”This comes after Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi showed excerpts from former Army Chief Naravane’s unpublished memoirs during the budget session of Parliament in early February and was repeatedly interrupted by BJP leaders Rajnath Singh and Kiren Rijiju.Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “failing to fulfill his responsibilities” in the 2020 India-China military conflict in Ladakh. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh objected, questioning whether the books cited had been officially published or authenticated. He told the House that unpublished material could not be cited and accused Congress leaders of misleading the parliament. Speaker Om Birla later ruled that unpublished books or magazine articles not directly related to the proceedings cannot be read out in the House.Despite the ruling, congressional leaders maintained that the excerpts they referred to were authentic and could be obtained through published magazine articles citing the memoir.