'Legacies Don't Get...': Fresh Row as Nehru Memorial Museum Renamed, But Without 1st PM's Name

Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Manish Tewari on Friday launched an indirect attack on the Centre, asking “those trying to erase Jawahar Lal Nehru’s contribution” to read ‘Discovery of India’ and ‘Glimpses of World History’. He added that legacies don’t get erased by renaming buildings.

This reaction came after a report in Indian Express stated that the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) will now be called Prime Ministers Museum and Society. The move comes almost a year after the Prime Ministers’ Museum was inaugurated at the Teen Murti complex which served as the official residence of India’s first PM.

“I wish those who want to erase Jawahar Lal Nehru’s contribution to freedom struggle & building of Modern India would once read Discovery of India & Glimpses of World History to fathom the depth of Nehru. Legacies don’t get erased by renaming buildings,” Tewari tweeted.

Congress veteran Jairam Ramesh launched a scathing attack on one of the country’s top leader and called him “a small, small man overburdened by his insecurities, and is a self-styled Vishwaguru”.

Congress leader Udit Raj told News18, “I condemn it strongly. Nehru ji was not just the first PM of India, but was also a freedom fighter. He was also a great literary person, a great historian. So the way BJP is changing the name shows that they are supporting the British. They don’t want freedom; they don’t want democracy; they don’t wan the Constitution. Nehru ji struggled for India’s freedom. He went to jail for it. And this is how the present government is paying for all the sacrificies of Nehru ji?”

Some others supported the decision and asked what’s the problem in renaming “if the museum contains the life of other prime ministers along with Nehru?”

The IE report stated that the decision was taken at a special meeting of the NMML Society on Thursday, presided over by defence minister Rajnath Singh, who is the vice-president of the society.

The NMML Society has 29 members with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its chairman. Other key members of the society include Union Ministers Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, Dharmendra Pradhan, G Kishan Reddy and Anurag Thakur.