Let the building be called by original name, says Karan Singh on renaming NMML
Karan Singh also spoke about how he was closely connected with this great institution in several capacities, including as chairman of the executive council, for 50 years
Three days after the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) was officially renamed as the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library (PMML), the former chairman of the executive council has expressed concerns saying, “there is no reason why the original building should not continue to be called by its original name”.
In a statement, Karan Singh said: “Before I was dropped from the executive council, I had suggested that the NMML should be allowed to continue because it was already well established as an institution of national and international reputation.”
“The project of making a new museum for all subsequent prime ministers is to be welcomed because all of them deserve to be remembered, and it so happens that I personally knew each one of them. For this project I had suggested a separate society should be formed,” he added.
Singh, who is also former Congress MP, said he had been assured that the Teen Murti House Museum itself would not be disturbed in any way and in fact, would be updated and improved, but his suggestion was not accepted.
Also Read: Nehru Memorial renamed as Prime Ministers’ museum and library
He added that even as the name of the overall complex has been changed to the PMML, the original building should continue to be called the Jawaharlal Nehru Museum and Library because that is exactly what it is.
Singh also spoke about how he was closely connected with this great institution in several capacities, including as chairman of the executive council, for 50 years.
“I have seen this grow into an institution not only of national but of international importance. It is by far the richest repository of material on the Freedom Movement and on Independent India. The Lutyens building, which was previously the residence of the British commander-in-chief, became the Prime Minister’s residence where Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru lived until his passing away in 1964. The charismatic leader of the Freedom Movement, as India’s first Prime Minister for 17 years, he laid the foundation for free India,” Singh said.
The Congress party has also criticised the Central government’s decision to re-naming the Nehru memorial. The party has alleged that the Centre’s only objective is to destroy the legacy of the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
On the renaming, Congress leader and MP Rahul Gandhi said “Nehru ji is known for the work he did, and not just his name.”
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said it was petty to take away the name of the first prime minister to accommodate other prime ministers.
The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library will officially be called the Prime Minister’s Museum and Library Society from August 14.
Hitting out at the Centre, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi can never take away the gigantic contributions of Jawaharlal Nehru in the country’s freedom struggle.
While the Bharatiya Janata Party has said that the museum now focuses on all prime ministers moving away from Nehru while in the Nehru Museum, no other PM got any space.
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