New Delhi, September 22: Rizwan Kadri -- a member of the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library (PMML) Society -- wrote a letter on September 9 to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, asking her to either return the personal papers of former PM Jawaharlal Nehru which her office took by virtue of being family’s representative and donor.
Kadri’s letter comes in the backdrop of PMML, the new avatar of erstwhile Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) -- earlier this year deliberating on reclaiming Nehru’s private papers from Sonia Gandhi.
Kadri, the historian and author, said in Ahmedabad, “I have written a letter to Sonia Gandhi and asked her to return the private letters of Nehru which were taken by her office, as she was the family’s representative and donor...51 boxes were withdrawn from there in 2008...The collection which was withdrawn includes Jayaprakash Narayan, Babu Jagjivan Ram, Edwina Mountbatten collection and several other collections.”
“The collection once donated cannot be withdrawn but this is withdrawn...What was the motive behind withdrawing the letters exchanged between Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten, this was donated by the original donor to the institution...Was there any objectionable thing in that, what was the motive for taking this collection back...In the letter written to Sonia Gandhi, I have asked her to return this to PMML or give us a copy of it,” Kadri, who wrote book ‘Mahatma-ni Parikrama’ (Mahatma’s Journey), giving an account of Mahatma Gandhi’s life, elaborated.
“I am confident that this was done in good faith to protect these invaluable documents, but historians like me are keenly interested in tracking them...I have demanded that either a scanned copy should be made available to us or they could suggest to us their place where we could sit and do research...it is crucial that these records remain accessible to ensure a comprehensive understanding of our nation’s history. We also want that a forensic audit should be conducted to ensure important papers are not missing,” Kadri stated.
US to return 297 antiquities
Meanwhile, coinciding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ongoing visit to the United States, the Biden administration facilitated the return of 297 antiquities that had been stolen or trafficked from India.
These will shortly be repatriated to India. In a symbolic handing over, a select few pieces were showcased to Prime Minister Modi and President Biden on the sidelines of their bilateral meeting in Wilmington, Delaware, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a media statement on Saturday.
The antiquities belong to a time period spanning almost 4000 years, from 2000 BCE – 1900 CE and have origins in different parts of India. Majority of the antiquities are terracotta artefacts from Eastern India, while others are made in stone, metal, wood and ivory and belong to different parts of the country, the PMO stated.
The PM thanked President Biden for his support in the return of these artefacts, which happened due to Cultural Property Agreement signed between the two sides in July 2024 to fulfill the commitments made by the two leaders to enhance cooperation to protect cultural heritage.
Modi, as per the PMO, noted that these objects were not just part of India’s historical material culture, but formed the inner core of its civilization and consciousness.