Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said in the Lok Sabha on Monday that Sonia Gandhi’s 2008 demand that some letters of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru be returned to the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library “can be acted upon”. NMML).
Speaking during Question Time in the Lower House, BJP MP Sambit Patra said the issue was raised earlier this year at the annual general meeting of the NMML’s successor Prime Minister’s Museum and Library. He said that some correspondence between Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten, Babu Jagjivan Ram and Jayaprakash Narayan was removed from the museum by MV Rajan in 2008 and sent to United Progressive Alliance President Gandhi in 51 cartoons.
A few hours later, the MP raised the issue The Indian Express Reported Ahmedabad-based historian Rizwan Qadri has written to Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi seeking help in returning the documents taken by his mother’s representative.
Patra said that records are important for understanding the history of India and requested the Ministry of Culture to research the matter and bring the records back to the museum.
In response, Shekhawat said that action can be taken by considering the suggestions.
Later addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters, Patra called the letters “historical heritage” and not the property of any family.
“What was in the letter that the first family felt should not be made public,” Patra asked.
Patra said there were two issues – one, “the sense of entitlement of the first family”, and second, what was the content of the correspondence. He reiterated his demand that the matter should be investigated and the letter returned to the museum.
Priyanka attacked minorities in Bangladesh
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra raised the issue of recent attacks on Hindus and Christians in Bangladesh in the Lok Sabha and urged the government to help the victims.
Speaking at Zero Time, the Wayanad MP said, “This government should raise its voice against the injustice being done to minorities, Hindus and Christians in Bangladesh. There should be a dialogue with the Bangladesh government and full support to those who are suffering.
Vadra also took issue with the depiction of Pakistani troops surrendering to the Indian Army in Dhaka in 1971 being removed from the South Block Defense Ministry. The iconic painting was the backdrop for many official meetings of army chiefs and visiting dignitaries.
Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat later informed the House that the painting had been moved to a “proper place” at the Maneksha Center on Monday, the day the Instrument of Surrender was signed in Dhaka on December 16, 1971, Victory Day.
The issue of attacks on minorities in Bangladesh was raised by parliamentarians from both sides. Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske raised the issue, TMC’s Sudeep Bandopadhyay demanded a statement from the government.
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