Singer Lata Mangeshkar’s brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar said on Friday that the family does not want a memorial for her at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park, adding that the matter should not be politicised, ABP Majha reported.
Lata Mangeshkar died at a hospital in Mumbai on February 6 at the age of 92 years.
On February 8, Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Ram Kadam wrote to Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar demanding that a memorial for the musical icon be made at the place where her last rites were conducted. Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole had also made a similar demand.
Hridaynath Mangeshkar, who is a singer and composer himself, told ABP Majha that Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, state Higher Education Minister Uday Samant and state Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray have readily agreed to a proposal to set up an international music university.
“When a musical memorial is being set up, there can be no bigger memorial than that,” he said.
Earlier, Aaditya Thackeray had said that any decision about the memorial will be taken after consultation with the Mangeshkar family, according to The Indian Express. “And, more importantly, it should be done in a way to match her high stature so as to do justice to Lata Mangeshkar,” he added.
The Shivaji Park holds significance for the Shiv Sena as it holds its annual Dussehra rally there, a tradition that started with the party’s founder Bal Thackeray.
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