After row, ISRO chief withdraws memoirs

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 4

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 he had decided to withdraw the publication of the book ‘Nilavu Kudicha Simhangal’ (Lions that drank the moonlight) in the light of the controversy.

Earlier in the day, he said every person would have to go through some kind of challenges during their journey to reach a top position in an organisation.

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 organisation,” he said, adding these were challenges that everybody had 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 he mentioned in his book lack of clarity in connection with the announcement of the failure of the Chandrayaan-2 mission.

The ISRO Chairman reiterated his autobiography was an attempt to inspire people who wished to achieve by fighting challenges and obstacles in life and not criticise anyone.