Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday said the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library could have been renamed as Nehru Memorial Prime Ministers’ Museum instead of axing Nehru’s name, ‘without seeming to demean the original’. There is some value in respecting the past, Tharoor said adding, “One day today’s rulers will also be history and they will want to receive the respect they shamefully deny their predecessors.”
The renaming of the museum as Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library Society has become the latest flashpoint between the BJP and the Congress. As a war of words began, the BJP countered the Congress’s criticism and said to oppose PM Modi, the Congress is even sidelining their own past PMs. “I can understand if they have some bitterness with Narasimha Rao. But, I want to know what is their problem with the achievements of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Manmohan Singh whose terms as prime minister have been showcased in an organised manner,” BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said those who do not have any history is now erasing the history of others. Calling the name change a disgusting attempt, Kharge said this cannot belittle Nehru but only shows the mentality and the dictatorial attitude of the BJP-RSS.
NMML name change
The culture ministry on Friday said on Fridat that the name change has been finalised at a meeting presided over by defence minister Rajnath Singh, who is also the vice president of the Nehru Mmorial Museum and Library Society housed in Teen Murti Bhavan.
The removal of Nehru’s name drew sharp reaction from the Congress. “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,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said.
