Legacies don’t get erased by renaming buildings, Bhalla on renaming NMML

Jammu, Aug 16, 2023:- With the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library officially renamed the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library Society, JKPCC leaders led by JKPCC Working President Raman Bhalla on Wednesday held strong protest  at Party office Shahidi Chowk Jammu against BJP Govt  alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has had a single point agenda of “denying”, “distorting”, “defaming” and “destroying” the Nehruvian legacy. Bhalla was accompanied by Former Minister and incharge District Jammu Urban Yogesh Sawhney, Ex MP Tarlokh Singh Bajwa,  President District Congress Rural Hari Singh Chib,   Kanta Baan, Indu Pawar,  Refugee Cell Congress Chairman Amrit Bali, SC Cell Chairman Karan Bhagat, Sewadal chief Vijay Sharma Babbi, OBC Chairman Adv Suresh Dogra, Pawan Raina, Thomas Khokhar, Sanjev Padha,  Corporator Dewarka Choudhary, Corporator Rajani Bala Chib, Corporator Rajinder Jamwal, Corporator Bhanu Mahajan, Corporator Rittu Choudhary, Shashi Sharma,  Pardeep Bhalla, Jatin Vashist ,Harvinder Singh, Gurmit Singh, Pawan Dev Singh,  Sandeep Dogra Sonu, RamanKhant Khajuria, Varinder Singh Manash,  Vijay Shastri, Sunil Kumar, Madhu Sudan, Ram Mangotra, Latish Sharma, Michael Wazir, Manjeet Jatt, Narinder Sharma, Narinder Gupta, Abdul Malik, Dara Singh, Rakesh Sharma besides others.

Speaking on the occasion, Bhalla asserted that 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.He said PM 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,” he said.But he can never take away Nehru’s gigantic contributions in 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 PM Modi and his drum beaters”, Bhalla said.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, he said.

Bhalla also hit out at the government over the renaming, saying it is a pity that it came to this. “I think that the idea of expanding what the building showcases to accommodate other Prime Ministers is unexceptionable idea.  In fact, it is good to encourage, children and members of the general public to be aware of the contributions of all the prime ministers. “But in the process, it’s rather petty to take away the name of the first Prime Minister who led the interim government, who was prime minister upon independence, who is so far the longest-serving prime minister. You could have continued calling it  the Nehru Memorial Prime Ministers Museum and Library,” Bhalla said.

“As far as Nehru ji is concerned, he was independent India’s first PM and unlike   Modi he did not cry foul. The country was coming out of 200 years of British colonial rule, he got down straight away to building India, he laid the foundation for IITs, AIIMS, IIMs, ISRO, institutions like that which have held us in good stead,” he said. Bhalla said that the institution functions as a central point for academics, researchers, students, and the general public seeking insights into India’s historical trajectory, its struggle for autonomy, and the process of nation-crafting. The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society housed in Teen Murti Bhavan premises has been renamed by the government as Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library Society, prompting sharp reactions from the Congress which termed it as a “petty act”.Bhalla termed it as an act of “vengeance”, asserting that legacies don’t get erased by renaming buildings.

Speaking on the occasion, Sawhney said that undermining Pandit Nehru by changing the memorial or library that had his name, shows nothing but their own insecurities, he said. PM Modi is a man who is full of insecurities because he knows jolly well that he has done nothing in the last nine-and-a-half years by which history will remember you,” Sawhney said. History is created, it is never changed or converted, he added. “History was created by Indira (Gandhi) ji when she ensured that Pakistan was divided into two and she ensured that Bangladesh was born. You can keep saying what you want but reality is that you have done zilch to create history,” Sawhney  said.

President District Congress Rural Hari Singh Chib claimed that this pettiness is unfortunate and it shows a certain bitterness towards our own historical past which, I believe, is not worthy of a government that has such a good majority. They should show bigheartedness that you expect from a government with a big majority,” Chib said. He alleged the government is full of contradictions both political and ideological.

Ex MP Tarlokh Singh Bajwa said that established in 1964, the NMML’s primary objective was to chronicle and analyze India’s political and societal evolution, with specific emphasis on the era of Jawaharlal Nehru’s leadership. Within its confines, an extensive compilation of documents, images, personal records, correspondences, and related materials associated with Nehru’s life and the narrative of contemporary India is safeguarded.