Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, June 16: The Congress criticised the government on Friday for renaming the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society in this city as the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library Society, calling the change a “petty act” and claiming that renaming buildings doesn’t erase legacies.
The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society (NMML) has been renamed as Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library Society, over a year after the Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya was established on the grounds of the Teen Murti Bhavan.
The Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library Society will henceforth go by that name, the Culture Ministry announced on Friday following a special meeting of the NMML.
Rajnath Singh, the vice president of the Society and the minister of defence, presided over the meeting, according to the statement.
Reacting to the development, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, “Pettiness & Vengeance, thy name is Modi. For over 59 years Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML) has been a global intellectual lamdmark and treasure house of books & archives. It will henceforth be called Prime Ministers Museum & Society.”
“What won’t Mr. Modi do to distort, disparage and destroy the name & legacy of the architect of the Indian nation-state. A small, small man overburdened by his insecurities is the self-styled Vishwaguru,” Ramesh said.
The Teen Murti Bhavan, according to Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal, is a significant site where India’s fate was decided.
“The architect of India’s post-independence glory was our first PM Jawaharlal Nehru. Erasing his legacy by changing the name of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library is a petty act, which only further diminishes the stature of the current regime,” Venugopal said on Twitter.
The Teen Murti Bhavan is a historic monument where India's destiny was crafted. The architect of India's post-independence glory was our first PM Jawaharlal Nehru.
Erasing his legacy by changing the name of the Nehru Memorial Museum & Library is a petty act, which only further…
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) June 16, 2023
“India’s every success is achieved on the foundation of Nehru ji’s vision. India knows that, and removing his name from a museum will not change the revered stature that Nehru ji enjoys in every Indian’s heart,” he said.
Manish Tewari, a Congress MP, also criticised the government, saying that renaming buildings does not erase legacies.
“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,” he said on Twitter.
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.https://t.co/gFgCt1p2oT
— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) June 16, 2023
Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh said, “You can remove (Jawaharlal Nehru’s) name from the boards but you can’t remove the respect which people of this country have for him.”
