LETTER
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Ever since the first issue in 1966, even the impact of the fascist right was inversely related – in many ways – to the intellectual climate and some of the productions that were generated by the institution during that time. Moreover, the idea of a “golden age” of the NMML needs serious rethinking. For example, during the stewardship of its most well-known director (in the 1980s), I had the painful experience of spending over six months (in the course of two field trips to Orissa) to get the Utkala Sahitya Samaj to write a letter, requesting the NMML to xerox and/or microfilm two Oriya newspapers – Samyabadi (‘Socialist’; 1295 Pausa – 1877) and Utkala Putra (‘Son of Utkala’; 1870s) – along with the Orissa Communist Party’s Krushak (1938) and Mukti Judhya from the Communist Party of India office (Cuttack). I had been told that the NMML would need at least one such letter in order to send somebody from New Delhi to do the needful. I was also told that the matter would be processed but nothing happened after that. The 19th century newspapers had turned into dust by the 1990s and are not available anywhere anymore. The note to the prime minister also tells us about the “demoralised staff” today. Incidentally, over the 1980s and 1990s the staff of the NMML had serious problems with the establishment. The “Oral History” section did not have any provision to preserve material. This is easily verifiable if one talked to the staff – including some old-timers who have retired. Despite all its problems, the NMML has come of age and, with all its limitations, it has a lot to offer to a researcher as a repository. In many ways, this particular aspect is related to the stabilising of civil society, in howsoever limited a scale. I am of course not suggesting here that the NMML is in perfect shape right now, since I am yet to know of any institution that is in a half-perfect shape, including those so-called “centres of excellence” that have been cited as examples in the note to the prime minister. A tragic aspect that normally hijacks any meaningful discussion on how to prevent the decline of institutions is that these seem to be invariably “director-centric”. Even here the flaw seems to be related to (Continued on p 90) vol xliv no 29 (Continued from p 4) focusing on the immediate environment and not on the policies, per se. Do institutions like the NMML and the National Archives deserve bureaucratic heads? How are they to function? Do they have any rational system of selection – of both the Fellows and the experts who sit on judgment to select the former – and do they justify the amount of resources that are spent (including the fellowships granted to scholars) on these institutions? One should be appreciative of the concerned scholars for suggesting the detailed parameters that should guide the process of selection of the new director. It would have been in fact wonderful if they had suggested a shortlist of “non-partisan scholars” of “international repute” to head the NMML, so that their “opponents” could have done likewise – and who knows, a serious consensus-building exercise could - have led to the location of some common factors that could form the basis of the final selection? But more seriously, the acid test would be to see the shape of the present “concerns” and the “form” in which they are expressed, and who expresses them after August 2009 or whenever the next director is appointed. One can only hope that, as usual, this would not affect scholars who work in the different sections of the library. And also that a librarian is appointed and the vacant/dissolved posts filled up sooner than later – another feature that transcends the “past” vs“present” dichotomy. NEW DELHI ‘’ The signatories of the memorandum are right that NMML is one of its own kind. The fact that there is just one NMML seems to be the main problem. The scarcity of institutions like NMML evokes the desire in everyone to rule over it for some time and to direct its fate for some purpose. But, alas, only one person is appointed as its director and the practice is to appoint such a person for a few years. The founder-director of NMML served for 14 years and his successor for 17 years. The contest between different schools of historiography has acquired life and blood. It is being shifted from the realm of ideas to quibbling about institutions run by “Others”, ironically in the name of “pluralism and ecumenism” by the petitioners. Fellow, NMML, NEW DELHI ’ - - ’ july 18, 2009 vol xliv no 29
LETTER
EPW has been India’s premier journal for comment on current affairs
Nehru Memorial Museum
and research in social sciences. It succeeded Economic Weekly (1949-1965),
& Library – 1
which was launched and shepherded by Sachin Chaudhuri, who was also the founder-editor of EPW. As editor for thirty-five years (1969-2004) Krishna Raj
Iread the piece ‘Saving the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library’ (EPW, 27 June
gave EPW the reputation it now enjoys.
2009) with interest. The idea of seeking to
editor
improve problems affecting any institution
C Rammanohar Reddy Deputy Editor
that draws upon the country’s resources is
Bernard D’Mello
welcome.
web Editor subhash rai
I have used the NMML since August 1977.
Senior Assistant Editors
The initial inspiration was provided by
Lina Mathias aniket Alam
those incredibly fascinating MA lectures of
Bharati Bhargava
Sumit Sarkar. When we were unsuccessful
Assistant Editors Srinivasan ramani
in finding the recommended books in the
rama sampath kumar Editorial Staff
Delhi University Library, Sumit Sarkar
Prabha Pillai
himself asked us to try the NMML. My first
Editorial Assistants P S Leela
visit to the NMML (along with two class-
Tanya Sethi
mates) was to submit a memorandum to
Editorial Consultant Gautam Navlakha
the then director with signatures collected
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from the students of my batch who had
Gauraang Pradhan Manager B S Sharma
opted for the course “Modern India”. We
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had resolved to sit on a peaceful dharna
Kamal G Fanibanda General Manager & Publisher
outside the library since, in its effort to re-
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tain its exclusive character, the NMML had
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suddenly decided to make it out of bounds
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The point is that the NMML was always
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an exclusive institution, which also always
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it to be anything else, except perhaps during
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the interlude in 1998-2004 when the fascist
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right controlled it. And, interestingly, one
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does not have any memory of any formal
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can only hope that the current expression
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of criticisms/counter criticisms is a healthy development that should continue and not end in August 2009, when the term of the
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However, if one looks at the NMML’s past
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in relation to its present, the level of its exclusiveness has indeed declined. Like any other sarkari-funded institution, the NMML
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This latter aspect sounds terribly arrogant
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and is against the spirit of any intellectual debate. I would go so far as to argue that
4
july 18, 2009
EPW 
LETTER Biswamoy Pati
NMML – 2
TBhupendra Yadav
EPW
Dear Reader,
