NEW DELHI: Prime Minister’s Museum and Library member has requested Rahul Gandhi to return the letters written by Jawaharlal Nehru to Lady Mountbatten, Jayaprakash Narayan, among others which was allegedly withdrawn at Sonia Gandhi’s orders in 2008.
Rizwan Kadri, speaking to ANI, said that the move to approach the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha came after getting no response from Sonia Gandhi.
“Since no response was received from her, I have requested leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi to help in getting these materials restored. I have also urged him to consider that these documents are part of the nation’s heritage and an important aspect of its history,” he said.
“Until we can view these materials, we cannot determine the reasons for their withdrawal. There must have been some objectionable content for them to have been removed,” he added.
What do letters have?
The collection includes letters between Jawaharlal Nehru and Lady Mountbatten, as well as exchanges with Govind Ballabh Pant and Jayaprakash Narayan, Kadri said.
He said that in September this year, a formal request was made to Sonia Gandhi regarding 51 cartoons from around eight different sections of the Nehru collections at the PMML (formerly the Nehru Memorial). However, the requests received no response.
“In September 2024, I wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi requesting that the 51 cartoons from approximately eight different sections, which were part of the Nehru collections at the Prime Ministers’ Museum (formerly the Nehru Memorial), be either returned to the institution, or we be granted permission to scan them, or provided with their scanned copies. This would allow us to study them and facilitate research by various scholars,” he said.
“These include important correspondences between Pt Jawaharlal Nehru and Lady Mountbatten, as well as letters exchanged with Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant, Jayaprakash Narayan, and others. These letters are a significant part of Indian history and have been proven through records to have been withdrawn from the museum in 2008 at Sonia Gandhi’s direction,” he added.
‘What would Nehru have written to Edwina Mountbatten that needed censoring’
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders were quick to pick on the news and questioned the alleged withdrawal of letters from the public space.
“This is intriguing! From What’s today the Prime Minister’s Museum and Library & formerly Nehru Museum and Library, the then UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi took away 51 cartoons of letters written by Nehru to various personalities including “EDWINA MOUNTBATTEN”!” BJP leader Sambit Patra said.
“In the recently concluded AGM of the PMML one of the members Sh Rizwan Kadri has written to LoP Rahul Gandhi and sought his help in getting back the letters from his mother Sonia Gandhi! What intrigues me is what would have Nehru ji written to EDWINA MOUNTBATTEN that needed censoring and will LOP Rahul help getting back the letters between Nehru and Edwina!” he added.
Congress is yet to make a comment on this.