Prime Ministers' Museum and Library Society member asks Sonia Gandhi for access to Jawaharlal Nehru papers
Sep 22, 2024
Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], September 23 : Historian and author and one of the members of the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library (PMML) Society, Rizwan Kadri, has written to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, asking her to either return the personal papers related to former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, provide copies, or offer digitised access to them.
Kadri said that '51 boxes' carrying records related to Nehru were taken back by Sonia Gandhi's office from PMML, formerly known as Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, or NMML.
"I have written a letter to Sonia Gandhi and asked her to return the private letters of Nehru that were taken by her office, as she was the family's representative and donor...51 boxes were withdrawn from there in 2008...The collection that was withdrawn includes Jayaprakash Narayan, Babu Jagjivan Ram, the Edwina Mountbatten collection and several other collections," Kadri told ANI.
He questioned whether there was something objectionable in the letters and what was the motive for taking the papers back.
"The collection once donated cannot be withdrawn but this is withdrawn...What was the motive behind withdrawing the letters exchanged between Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten? This was donated by the original donor to the institution...Was there any objectionable thing in that? What was the motive for taking this collection back," he said.
The historian and author further said they have demanded the papers to ensure a comprehensive understanding of our nation's history.
"In the letter written to Sonia Gandhi, I have asked her to return this to PMML or give us a copy of it...I am confident that this was done in good faith to protect these invaluable documents, but historians like me are keenly interested in tracking them," Kadri said.
"I have demanded that either a scanned copy should be made available to us or they could suggest to us their place where we could sit and do research. These records must remain accessible to ensure a comprehensive understanding of our nation's history...We also want that a forensic audit should be conducted to ensure important papers are not missing," he added.
