Return Nehru’s letters to Lady Mountbatten, others: Center to Rahul Gandhi

These letters were removed from public access in 2008 on Sonia Gandhi's request, who was the chairperson of the UPA.

New Delhi: The Prime Minister’s Museum and Library (PMML) has formally requested the return of historical letters written by India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, including those addressed to Edwina Mountbatten or Lady Mountbatten.

This request follows the revelation that these letters, which were removed from public access in 2008 at the behest of Sonia Gandhi, are currently held privately.

The letters include significant correspondences with prominent figures such as Lady Mountbatten, Albert Einstein, Jayaprakash Narayan, Padmaja Naidu, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Aruna Asaf Ali, and Babu Jagjivan Ram. Their accessibility is seen as vital for historical research.

BJP attacks Gandhi family over ‘censoring’ Nehru’s letters to Lady Mountbatten

In charge of the BJP’s National Information and Technology Department and co-incharge of West Bengal, Amit Malviya raised questions about the removal of these letters on social media.

He claimed that Sonia Gandhi allegedly took away 51 cartons of Nehru’s letters during her tenure as chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Malviya expressed intrigue over what Nehru may have written to Lady Mountbatten that warranted such censorship and questioned whether Rahul Gandhi would act to recover these letters.

Historian Rizwan Kadri, a member of the PMML Society headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has urged Rahul Gandhi to assist in retrieving these documents.

In a letter dated December 10, 2024, Kadri highlighted that he had previously written to Sonia Gandhi in September 2024, requesting that the 51 cartons from approximately eight different sections of the Nehru collections at the PMML be either returned to the institution or scanned for research purposes.

The PMML has indicated that while they understand these letters including important ones to Lady Mountbatten, Albert Einstein and Jayaprakash Narayan, among others, may hold personal significance for the Nehru family, their public availability is crucial for understanding India’s historical narrative. The society is seeking collaboration with Rahul Gandhi to ensure these significant historical materials are accessible to researchers and scholars.