Thiruvananthapuram: ISRO Chairman S Somanath on Saturday said he was withdrawing from the publishing of his upcoming autobiography after a controversy erupted over some of his alleged critical remarks about his predecessor K Sivan in the book.
Somanath confirmed that he had decided to withdraw the publication of the book 'Nilavu Kudicha Simhangal' (loosely translated as - Lions that drank the moonlight), in light of the controversy.
Earlier in the day, he said every person would have to go through some kind of challenge during their journey to reach a top position in an organization. Somanath was responding to a report that claimed his autobiography had some critical remarks about his predecessor Sivan. "Persons holding such key positions may have to go through several challenges. One among them is the challenges with regard to getting positions in an organization," he said, adding that these are challenges that everybody has to go through.
"More persons might be eligible for a significant post. I just tried to bring out that particular point. I didn't target any particular individual in this regard," he explained. He admitted that he mentioned in his book the lack of clarity in connection with the announcement of the failure of the Chandrayaan-2 mission. The ISRO Chairman reiterated that his autobiography was an attempt to inspire people who wish to achieve by fighting challenges and obstacles in life and not criticizing anyone.
The revelations in his book sparked controversies and people were shocked across the country. The book contains fifteen chapters and ISRO Chairman S Somanath revealed the "inner politics" of the organization. He also penned about the "competition" and "rift" among the senior scientists in the ISRO.
In one of the chapters of the upcoming autobiography, the ISRO Chairman revealed that some sections of scientists were planning to "sabotage the prestigious GSLV mission". "K Sivan the former chairman of ISRO tried to keep him away from the post of ISRO Chairman," the upcoming book revealed.
Somnath recollects that he along with K Sivan was shortlisted for the top post in ISRO after the retirement of A.S. Kiran Kumar as its chairman."It was in 2018 when K Sivan was on an extension period, I was also pinning some hope for the post. Though, both of us were considered for the chairman's post, but the final decision was taken in favour of K. Sivan. But even after taking charge as ISRO Chairman, K Sivan was not ready to leave the VSSC director's post for which I was eligible. When directly asked about this he evaded nicely," stated Somnath in his autobiography titled 'Nilavu Kudicha Simhangal.
After much waiting, Somanath was appointed as VSSC director later. That too was due to the intervention of Dr. BN Suresh former VSSC Director and IIST Director. Somanath also alleged that he was sidelined many times in the organization.
Somanath in his book also revealed that the actual cause of the failure of Chandrayan 2 was a software error and not a failure of communication with the Lander as stated by the then Chairman. The book was supposed to be published at a fest by Lipi Publications, Kozhikode. (With agency inputs)
