Jairam Ramesh slams Centre over renaming of NMML

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh slammed the Centre over the official renaming of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) in Delhi on 16 August, Wednesday. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi can never take away the monumental contributions of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in the country’s freedom struggle.

On 14 August, the Centre officially renamed the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) as the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library (PMML).

Reacting to this decision, Jairam Ramesh took to his official handle on X, formerly Twitter, and wrote, “From today, an iconic institution gets a new name. The world-renowned Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) becomes PMML—Prime Ministers’ Memorial Museum and Library. Mr Modi possesses a huge bundle of fears, complexes and insecurities, especially when it comes to our first and longest-serving Prime Minister. He has had a single-point agenda of denying, distorting, defaming and destroying Nehru and the Nehruvian legacy.”

The Congress leader added, “He has erased N and put P instead. That P is really for pettiness and peeve. But he can never take away Nehru’s gigantic contributions to the freedom movement and his towering achievements in building the democratic, secular, scientific and liberal foundations of the Indian nation-state, all of which are now under assault by Mr Modi and his drumbeaters.”

Ramesh said that the legacy of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru will continue to inspire future generations. He added, “Despite the relentless assault, Jawaharlal Nehru’s legacy will live on for the world to see and he will continue to inspire generations to come.”

On Wednesday, the vice-chairman of the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library (PMML), A Surya Prakash, informed everyone of the renaming of the museum through his social media handle. He posted, “Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) is now Prime Ministers Museum and Library (PMML) Society w.e.f August 14, 2023 – in tune with the democratisation and diversification of the remit of the society. Happy Independence Day! PM Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh, Min Of Culture GoI.”

The Union Culture Ministry also announced an official statement that it had decided to rename the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society to the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library Society.