Removal of Congress leaders from NMML Society reveals narrow-minded approach: Karan Singh slams Centre

Senior Congress leader Karan Singh on Wednesday termed the removal of Congress leaders from the committee of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library or NMML Society as a "shocking move" and said it revealed "bigoted and narrow-minded approach" of the central government.

"It is really quite shocking and shows a very negative mindset that everybody associated with an institution dedicated to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru has been removed from the committee. The fact that they should do this shows they have a very bigoted and narrow-minded approach to it," Singh told ANI here.

Upon being questioned what he thought of the new committee, Singh said, "We will have to wait and see how they will work but we have grave apprehensions. That all people associated with Congress and its ideology have been sidelined from it and is completely wrong."

At a time when the NMML is likely to get revamped by the centre, it reconstituted the NMML committee on Tuesday removing senior Congress leaders such as Mallikarjun Kharge, Jairam Ramesh, and Singh from it.

He further added, "I myself was connected with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru for 15 years from 1949 to 1964, and so were the other leaders. There seems to be a very negative thought going into it."

Amidst reports that the Centre is planning to overhaul the museum to dedicate it to all prime ministers instead of only the first, he said that the government should not tamper with the NMML Society and instead create something new if they wanted.

"It is clear as to what their ideology is. It takes years to build an organisation but very little to destroy it. We want that the organisation, which is now world-renowned, should not be tampered with. If they want they can make something new," Singh said.