By The Hindu Bureau

Copyright thehindu

From Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Acharya J.B. Kripalani and Louis Mountbatten to Ranjan Gogoi and T.N. Chaturvedi: the oral history section of the Prime Ministers Museum and Library (PMML) is a repository of interviews with people who have witnessed Indian history from close quarters.

When it was conceived in 1966, the Oral History Project of the then Nehru Memorial Museum and Library was focused on interviewing people who came into contact with India’s leaders or were connected with important political events or movements either as participants or as witnesses.

Over the years but, the canvas has expanded to include subjects concerning the overall national development including economy, foreign policy. As of now the NMML, now known as the Prime Minister’s Museum and Library has conducted nearly 1372 interviews, out of these, 988 have been transcribed, edited and prepared in book form.

The Oral History Division has in fact emerged as one of the top destinations for researchers, historians and students working on history of modern India. According to a senior academic of the PMML, though oral history in itself cannot be a source for research, but when combined with other archival sources, it gives a solid foundation.

The interview transcripts are made available to scholars and researchers for consultation in the Reading Room of the Manuscripts Section of the PMML.

“In the oral history project of the PMML, the emphasis in the beginning was on the recollections of men and women who came into contact with India’s great leaders or were connected with important political events or movements either as participants or as witnesses. Gradually, the oral history canvas expanded to include subjects concerning the overall national development including economy, foreign policy, art and culture, sports, institution building, etc,” the official said.

Among those who have recorded their recollections are Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Acharya J.B. Kripalani, Renuka Ray, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Dr. Sushila Nayar, E.M.S. Namboodiripad, H.V. Kamath, A.P. Jain, Nawab of Chhatari, Dr. Jivraj Mehta, R.K. Nehru, H.M. Patel, Jyoti Basu, I.K. Gujral and V.P. Singh. Among the scientists interviewed are S. Chandrasekhar and Prof. Satyen Bose. The latest additions are former Kerala and Karnataka Governor T.N. Chaturvedi and former CJI Ranjan Gogoi.

Some foreign personalities who have been interviewed on Jawaharlal Nehru or on their association with the Indian national movement include Louis Mountbatten, Fenner Brockway, Horace Alexander, James Cameron, Yehudi Menuhin, Mrs Martin Luther King, Willy Brandt, Chancellor Kreisky of Austria, Pierre Mendes-France, Chester Bowles, Tibor Mende, Faiz Ahmed Faiz and many others.

“The list of persons to be interviewed is being revised continually and we have some big and important names lined up,” said Dr. Ravi Mishra Joint Director of the PMML.

A wide variety of subjects covered include partition of Bengal, the First World War, Satyagraha campaigns, the social reform movements, growth of trade unions and labour relations, activities of revolutionary groups, growth of the socialist movement, Indo-British relations in the context of Indian and British politics, and the events leading to the partition of India.