Don't wipe out Jawaharlal Nehru's role; he belonged to India: Manmohan tells Narendra Modi over Teen Murti Complex

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh wrote a strongly-worded letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that the historic Teen Murti complex, dedicated to the memory of Jawaharlal Nehru, should be left undisturbed. Remarks of the former prime minister came amid reports that the government plans to set up a museum for all prime ministers in the Teen Murti complex. Rajnath Singh, who chaired the 43rd annual general meeting of The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML), assured those who attended the meeting that the move is not an attempt to dilute the legacy of India’s first prime minister, who was in the office for 17 years. Manmohan raised concerns over what he described as an agenda to “change the nature and character” of the Teen Murti complex, according to The Hindu. “Jawaharlal Nehru belongs not just to the Congress but to the entire nation. It is in that spirit that I have written to you,” Manmohan, in the letter, wrote. [caption id=“attachment_4272883” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Manmohan Singh. PTI[/caption] Manmohan in his letter mentioned former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and claimed that under Vajpayee’s six-year tenure, “there was absolutely no attempt made to change the nature and character of the NMML and the Teen Murti complex in any way. But sadly, that seems to be part of the agenda of the Government of India now,” according to Indian Express. Manmohan also quoted Vajpayee’s speech in Parliament when Nehru passed away, “As Atal Bihari Vajpayeeji himself said in his moving speech to Parliament when Panditji passed away: ‘Such a resident may never grace Teen Murti again. That vibrant personality, that attitude of taking even the opposition along, that refined gentlemanliness, that greatness we may not again see in the near future. In spite of a difference of opinion we have nothing but respect for his great ideals, his integrity, his love for the country and his indomitable courage’,” he said. Manmohan wrote that NMML is “dedicated to the memory of India’s first prime minister and prime architect of the Indian nation-state who left behind an indelible imprint on our country and indeed on the world.” He stated that NMML “must remain a centre of first-rate scholarship and professional excellence. The museum itself must retain its primary focus on Jawaharlal Nehru and the freedom movement because of his unique role having spent almost ten years in jail between the early 1920s and mid-1940s. No amount of revisionism can obliterate that role and his contributions,” according to News18.