Leave Pandit Nehru's memorial undisturbed: Manmohan Singh urges PM Modi

Manmohan Singh's letter comes amid reports that the NMML be dedicated in the memory of all former prime ministers.

NEW DELHI: Former prime minister Manmohan Singh has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to leave the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) "undisturbed". Singh said that and said this would be respecting both history and heritage.

His letter comes amid reports that the NMML be dedicated in the memory of all former prime ministers. Strongly opposing the idea, Singh raised concern over the attempts being made to change the "nature and character" of the NMML. 

"Jawaharlal Nehru belongs not just to the Congress but to the entire nation. It is in this spirit that I have written to you," he said.

Singh also quoted Atal Bihari Vajpayee in his letter saying that even during the tenure of the late PM, there was no attempt to change the nature and character of the NMML. "I recall that during the six-year tenure of  Shn Atal Bihari Vaipayee as Prime Minister, there was absolutely no attempt made to change the nature and character of the NMML 
and the Teen Murthy complex in any way. But sadly that seems to be part of the agenda of the Government of India now," he wrote.

Singh also said that Vajpayee had described Nehru in Parliament as a "vibrant personality" and said that "such a resident may never grace Teen Murti again".

"Let us respect this sentiment and keep Teen Murti as a memorial to our first prime minister Pandit Nehru and leave the Teen Murti complex undisturbed as it is. This way we will be respecting both history and heritage," Singh said in the letter. 

Singh said the NMML is dedicated to the memory of the country's first prime minister and prime architect of the Indian nation-state. "Nehru has left behind an incredible imprint on our country and the world. His distinctiveness and greatness have been acknowledged even by his political opponents and rivals," Singh said.

The NMML was established in the memory of India's first prime minister and the museum at the Teen Murti House has preserved some rooms as they were at the time of Nehru's death.