Mallikarjun Kharge slams Centre over renaming Nehru Memorial Museum

Mallikarjun Kharge said those who do not have a history of their own are out to erase the history of others

New Delhi: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday slammed the Centre over the decision to change the name of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) to Prime Minister’s Museum and said that the move shows the “cheap mentality and dictatorial attitude” of the BJP and RSS.

The Culture Ministry said on Friday that it had been decided to change the name of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society to Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library Society. The decision was taken at a special meeting of the Memorial Museum and Library Society which was presided over by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is the Vice-President of the Society.

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Kharge said those who do not have a history of their own are out to erase the history of others.

“The condemnable attempt to change the name of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library cannot belittle the personality of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the architect of modern India and fearless guardian of democracy. This only shows the cheap mentality and dictatorial attitude of BJP-RSS.” Kharge said in a tweet.

“The narrow thinking of the Modi government cannot reduce the huge contribution of ‘Jawahar of Hind’ towards India,” he added.

Several other Congress leaders attacked the Centre over the move. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that NMML was known worldwide as a treasure house of books and archives.

“Pettiness and Vengeance, their second name is Modi. For over 59 years, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) has been a global intellectual, historical place and treasure house of books and archives. It will henceforth be called Prime Ministers Museum and Society. What won’t Mr Modi do to distort, disparage and destroy the name and legacy of the architect of the Indian nation-state? A small man overburdened by his insecurities is behaving as the self-styled Vishwaguru,” he said in a tweet Speaking to ANI, Vice Chairman, Executive Council, NMMLA, A Surya Prakash said the passage of the resolution by the general body of this Society “is not a small step”.
“It is rather a very big step to reiterate our commitment to democracy and to acknowledge our national political leadership,” he said.

In 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed the idea of setting up a museum dedicated to all the prime ministers of India at the Teen Murti premises.

This project was approved by Executive Council, NMML in its 162nd meeting held in November 2016. The Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya was opened to the public on April 21 last year.

During the inauguration, despite having received an invitation from the government, no member of the Nehru-Gandhi family was present for the function. Three members of the Nehru-Gandhi family including Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi have served as Prime Ministers of the country.

The Culture Ministry release said that the Museum is a seamless blend which begins at\ the renovated and refurbished Nehru Museum building, “now completely updated with technologically advanced displays on the life and contribution of Jawaharlal Nehru”.

“Housed in a new building the museum then goes on to tell the story of how our Prime Ministers navigated the nation through various challenges and ensured all-round progress of the country. It recognizes all the Prime Ministers, thereby democratizing the institutional memory,” the release said.