Historian Rizwan Kadri Alleges Document Destruction Related to Nehru
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Ahmedabad, Dec 16 (NationPress) Historian Dr Rizwan Kadri revealed on Monday that he observed an elderly individual shredding a significant number of documents and letters associated with the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Dr Kadri, who is affiliated with the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library (PMML) Society, informed IANS, “An internal inquiry committee has been established to investigate claims regarding the destruction and unavailability of documents tied to Nehru.”
The researcher mentioned that back in 2008, fifty-one carton boxes containing letters from Nehru to various notable figures, including Aruna Asif Ali, Jaiprakash Narayan, Govind Ballabh Pant, and Edwina Mountbatten, the last vicereine of India, were “withdrawn” from the PMML in New Delhi at the request of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, representing the donor family.
Prior to the withdrawal, the documents were categorized into official correspondence and private papers.
Dr Rizwan, recognized for his work on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, urged for the prompt return of the Nehru letters and documents to the museum to aid research efforts, stating, “I have no information regarding the current status of the documents in the fifty-one boxes that were taken out by Sonia Gandhi.”
He noted that researchers like himself would persist in their requests for access to these vital documents, hoping they would eventually be digitized and made available to the public by Gandhi on a dedicated website.
Expressing disappointment over the withdrawal of the documents, Dr Rizwan remarked that such actions should not occur once items have been donated to the museum.
“This issue was also deliberated within the institution, and some voiced that the documents could not be removed once donated. Legal advice was sought, and there was a recommendation for a document audit. An internal inquiry committee has also been formed to investigate this matter,” he stated.
Describing the withdrawn collection as extremely significant, he refrained from speculating on whether the documents remain secure.
Dr Kadri, who served as an Associate Professor at Shree Swaminarayan Arts College in Ahmedabad, also held the position of a PhD (History) advisor at Gujarat University and Raksha Shakti University.
The Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library (PMML) Society is the updated form of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society, which was established on April 1, 1966. The museum was initially located in the eastern wing and the library in the western wing of the Teen Murti Bhawan, the residence of the first PM, Nehru.
