Former PM Manmohan Singh writes a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi; says, 'Nehru Memorial Museum & Library is… https://t.co/ecrtVNVQJY — ANI (@ANI) 1535358324000

(With inputs from agencies)

NEW DELHI: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to not disturb the memorial dedicated to India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.Singh, in a letter to the PM Modi, said that the memorial should not merely be seen as a legacy of the Congress party, but, considering Nehru’s immense contributions, it belongs to the entire nation.Singh's letter came following last month's reports saying that the government of India will set up a "Prime Ministers museum in the Teen Murti Bhawan.Highlighting the achievements of the former PM, Singh wrote that Nehru's "distinctiveness" and "greatness" was acknowledged even by his political opponents.Singh, who served as the Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2009, recalled that even the previous NDA government under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee did not attempt to "change the nature and character" of the memorial and Teen Murti Complex, which served as the residence of the first Prime Minister of India for 16 years."But sadly, that seems to be part of the agenda of the government of India now," Singh wrote.Singh also recollected the contributions of Nehru to India's Freedom Struggle and said that "no amount of revisionism can obliterate that role and his contribution".In the letter, Singh recalled a speech of Vajpayee given in the House of Parliament following the death of Nehru."As Atal Bihari Vajpayee himself said in his moving speech to Parliament when Panditji passed away: 'Such a resident may never grace Teen Murti again'," the letter read.Singh concluded by urging PM Modi to not make changes to the Nehru memorial as a mark of respect to both history and heritage.Last month, it was announced that a museum for all former prime ministers of the country will be built in the Teen Murti Bhavan complex housing the Jawaharlal Nehru memorial, director of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Shakti Sinha had said.The decision was taken at the 43rd annual general meeting of the NMML chaired by Union home minister Rajnath Singh."We will build a museum for all Prime Ministers in the 25 acre estate (Teen Murti Bhavan). This will be separate from the existing structure of the Nehru Memorial," Sinha told reporters after a two hour-long meeting.The NMML at the Teen Murti Bhavan was set up in the memory of the country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Culture.