Qadri stated that he had previously written to Sonia Gandhi in September, requesting the return of the documents to the institution. He said, “In September 2024, I wrote to Sonia Gandhi requesting that approximately 51 cartons comprising eight different sections of the Nehru collection, which were part of the Prime Ministers’ Museum (formerly the Nehru Memorial), either be returned to the institution, or that we be allowed to scan them, or that scanned copies be provided. This would facilitate our study and research by various scholars.”
These Letters are a Significant Part of Indian History
Rijwan Qadri further stated, “These include important correspondence between Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Lady Mountbatten, as well as letters exchanged with Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant, Jayaprakash Narayan, and others. These letters are a significant part of Indian history, and records prove they were retrieved from the museum in 2008 on Sonia Gandhi’s instructions.” He also mentioned that after receiving no response from Sonia Gandhi, he wrote another letter to Rahul Gandhi. “Since there was no response from her, I have requested the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, to help in retrieving these materials. I have also urged him to consider that these documents are part of the nation’s heritage and a crucial aspect of its history. Until we see these materials, we cannot ascertain the reasons for their retrieval. There must have been some objectionable content for them to be removed.”
Sambit Patra Raises Questions
BJP MP Sambit Patra also reacted, calling it “interesting”. Patra stated on X (formerly Twitter), “The then UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi took away 51 cartons of letters written by Nehru to various personalities, including ‘Edwina Mountbatten’, from what is now the Prime Minister’s Museum and Library, and was previously the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library! In the recently concluded AGM of PMML, a member, Rijwan Qadri, has written to the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, seeking his help in getting the letters back from his mother, Sonia Gandhi!” The BJP MP added, “I am curious to know what Nehruji wrote to Edwina Mountbatten that needed to be censored and whether the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul, will help in retrieving the letters between Nehru and Edwina!” The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, located in the Teen Murti complex in New Delhi, was formerly the official residence of the first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and was established in his memory as an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Culture.