New Delhi: The Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library is seeking the return of the private papers of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru from Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. The documents were taken from the museum—then called the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library—in 2008 by Gandhi. The Centres’ move has renewed focus on what these “private papers” are and why they matter.
Jawahar Lal Nehru’s private papers, such as letters, diaries, notes, give a glimpse into the thought process and private life of eminent figures in Indian history. And the Gandhi family has at least 51 cartons of these documents.
These include letters written to former PM’s father Motilal Nehru, mother Swarup Rani, wife Kamala Nehru, sisters Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit and Krishna Hutheesing, daughter Indira Gandhi, Edwina Mountbatten, PN Haksar, Albert Einstein, Jayaprakash Narayan, Babu Jagjivan Ram, among others.
A lot of private papers of public figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, former President Rajendra Prasad, BR Ambedkar and Dadabhai Naoroji to P.D. Tandon, Maulana Azad, Minoo Masani, Sardar Patel, and K.D. Malaviya, are housed at the National Archives of India (NAI).
“Private papers contain many writings, jottings, thoughts, reflections, confessions and exchanges and other forms of communication that public personalities may have conducted and whose records are only available in their records kept on them, or in their residence, or with their family. Usually these are donated to libraries and other institutions and opened for researchers to study,” said Historian Hindol Sengupta.
He added that the documents would us a lot of insight into what really happened during the freedom movement and during Nehru’s term as Prime Minister. “Remember, these would also hold exchanges with the British, the Chinese and others, which would be very insightful,” Sengupta said.
“Also, his exchanges with the Mountbattens (a part of the Mountbattens Papers have never been opened and the British government has fought expensive legal cases to keep them private) would be most insightful. These would also reveal to what extent the British still influenced Indian policy-making and political decision-making.”
A national treasure
In June, the 47th annual general meeting (AGM) of the Prime Minister’s Museum and Library reached a consensus to adopt a legal route to retrieve the 51 cartons of donated Nehru papers. It was discussed that the papers were taken when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power, and Gandhi was the chairperson of what was then known as the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) Society.
In 2023, the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society was renamed as the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library Society.
The papers were described as the “national treasure which should be handed back to the museum as its rightful place to preserve his legacy.”
The AGM meeting was attended by Rajnath Singh (Vice-President), Nirmala Sitharaman, Dharmendra Pradhan, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Chairman Nripendra Mishra, and members, including BJP leader Smriti Irani, adman-lyricist Prasoon Joshi, and PMML’s Director, Ashwani Lohani.
The museum administration had written twice to Sonia Gandhi’s office regarding the papers but received no concrete response until 15 December, when Gandhi said she “assured her cooperation” in the retrieval of the documents.
Recently, the non-profit Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund launched a digital Nehru archive. It offers a set of 100 volumes of ‘Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru’. Historian Madhavan Palat, who is part of the project, was asked if they would approach Sonia Gandhi for unpublished documents. He said if the privately held collections are offered, the team will accept them, but they have so far only worked with materials already public.
Also read: Nehru Archive won’t ask Sonia Gandhi for unpublished work
New donor policy
The Nehru papers were reportedly donated by Indira Gandhi after 1971, with a few other papers contributed by Sonia Gandhi after Indira Gandhi’s assassination. However, in 2008, Sonia Gandhi took back several of these papers and also barred access to some.
In June 2024, the PMML updated its donor policy, imposing conditions on the declassification of such material by limiting embargoes to 5–10 years and seeking their legal return.
In the past, donors such as the Gandhi family, in this case, could impose an indefinite embargo on private papers. As a result, the PMML, although being a custodian, was unable to make these documents accessible to researchers without the donor’s consent.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)