History must be built and scripted and PM Modi is incapable of doing so, according to Congress leader Supriya Shrinate, who spoke out after the central government renamed the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) to the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library (PMML).
She also advised the government to establish a wider political line “instead of demeaning and changing the name of something dedicated to Nehru.”
“Pandit Nehru built and laid the foundation of modern India. He built the IIMs, AIIMS, IITs, ISRO, and institutions that have kept liberal democracy alive in this country… He (PM Modi) will be remembered very negatively in history,” she told the reporters.
After a special meeting in June, it was decided that the NMML Society would change its name to PMML Society, and the museum was officially renamed on August 14. Notably, the museum is housed in Teen Murti Bhavan, India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s official residence.
Right after the museum’s name was formally changed, political parties, particularly the Congress, began criticizing the move, claiming that the PM Modi-led central government solely had the “agenda of denying, distorting, defaming, and destroying the Nehruvian legacy.”
“Teen Murti Bhavan was not the residence of other PMs. It is a historical place where Nerhuji stayed from the partition till his death. They (Centre) can’t erase Jawaharlal Nehru as he is in the soil of the country,” RJD leader Manoj Jha told news agency.
Previously, the museum’s chief official advised that individuals who were critical of the move pay a visit to witness how the ‘Nehru question’ was handled. Surya Prakash, vice-chairman of the museum’s executive council, distinguished between NMML and PMML.
“If you have seen the Nehru museum earlier, you will get an idea of how the Nehru-Gandhi family, which was in charge of the institution for many years, had set up that museum. If we were to reflect on that, it would give you an idea on what kind of thinking they had projecting,” he said.