I saw Nehru documents being shredded, says historian Rizwan Kadri

Ahmedabad (The Uttam Hindu): Historian Dr Rizwan Kadri on Monday claimed that he had seen an elderly person shred many documents and letters related to first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Dr Kadri, a member of the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library (PMML) Society, told IANS, “An internal inquiry committee has been set up to look into allegations of destruction and non-availability of documents related to Nehru.”

The researcher said in 2008, a total of 51 carton boxes containing Nehru’s letters written to various persons, 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Aruna Asif Ali, Jaiprakash Narayan, Govind Ballabh Pant and Edwina Mountbatten, the last vicereine of India, were “withdrawn” from the PMML in New Delhi at the request of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, as a representative of the donor family. He said before the withdrawal of the documents these were bifurcated as official correspondence and private papers.

Seeking an early return of the Nehru letters and documents to the museum to facilitate research, Dr Rizwan, known for his research on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, said, “I have no clue about the fate of the documents in 51 boxes that were withdrawn by Sonia Gandhi.”

He said researchers like him would continue to request and wait to get access to the crucial documents, hoping the documents would be digitized and shared with the public by Gandhi on a website at some stage. Dr Rizwan expressed regret that the documents were withdrawn -- something which should not have happened once these had been donated to the Museum. “This matter was also discussed in the institution and there were some who expressed that the documents could not be withdrawn once these had been donated. Legal opinion was also taken and a suggestion for auditing of documents was also given. An internal inquiry committee has also been set up to look into the matter,” he said.

Calling the withdrawn collection very important, he refused to speculate if the documents would still be safe. Dr Kadri, who worked as an Associate Professor at Shree Swaminarayan Arts College, Ahmedabad, was also appointed as a PhD (History) guide at Gujarat University and Raksha Shakti University. Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library (PMML) Society is the new avatar of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society that was formed on April 1, 1966. Initially, the museum was set up in the eastern wing and the library in the western wing of the Teen Murti Bhawan, home to first PM Nehru.