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| Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee:A Great Son of India | | 
(1901-1953)
By Brigadier (retd) Anil Gupta
Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee was a truly multi-faceted personality- he was a politician, educationist, lawyer, statesman, social reformer and a humanitarian. His forte in politics was as a parliamentarian who has had few equals to this day. As an educationist he reached dizzy heights. He was the founder of Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJS), the predecessor of modern day Bharatiya Janata Party. He also led a political movement against "Three Nation Theory" of Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, founder of National Conference and grand father of the present Chief Minister of J&K, Omar Abdullah. He achieved all this within a life span of only 52 years. "Proudly do I feel that the loss of my sonis a loss to Mother India!" exclaimed her mother on hearing of her son's death in custody on June 23, 1953.
A Brief Life Sketch
Born into an elite Bengali family, Syama Prasad was the second son of Sir Asutosh Mookerjee and Lady Jogamaya Devi. He was born on July 6, 1901 at Calcutta (Kolkatta). His father was a judge of the High Court of Judicature at Fort William, Bengal and also the Vice Chancellor of the University of Calcutta. The young but introvert Syama Prasad also followed in his father's foot steps. He earned his graduation degree in English in 1921 from the University of Calcutta and went on to complete his masters in Bengali from the same institution in 1923. The same year Syama Prasad became a member of the senate of the University of Calcutta and also started studying law. He earned his BL degree in 1924 and subsequently became an advocate in the Calcutta High Court the same year.
While persuing his masters, he was married in 1922 to Sudha Debi. He remained married for 11 years only when his wife died in 1933 due to pneumonia. He had five children-the last one, a four month old son, died from diphtheria. Facing the tragedies bravely, he succeeded in drowning his sorrow in public work.
After practising with Calcutta High Court for two years, young Syama Prasad left for England in 1926 for further studies in law at the Lincon's Inn. He became a barrister in 1927 and returned to Calcutta. At the age of 33, in 1934, he became the youngest ever vice chancellor of his alma mater the University of Calcutta. He remained in office for four years till 1938.
Syama Prasad Mookerjee joined active politics in 1939 when he was elected to the Bengal Legislative Council as a Congress candidate representing Calcutta University. He resigned the next year when Congress decided to boycott the legislature. Subsequently, he waas re elected as an Independent and served as Finance Minister of Bengal province during the period 1941-42. He protested against the communal and separatist ideas of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, a Muslim League leader. Jinnah wanted a separate Muslim state, an idea Syama Prasad vehmently opposed. He emerged as a spokesperson of the Hindus and joined Hindu Mahasabha, becoming its in 1944. Initially, opposed to the idea of divison of Bengal, he spoke in favour of the partition of Bengal in 1946, to prevent the inclusion of Hindu majority areas in a Muslim dominated East Pakistan. Syama Prasad Mookerjee wanted Hindu Mahasabha not to be restricted to Hindus alone or work as an apolitical body for the service of the masses.
Post Independence
Syama Prasad Mookerjee was appointed by the first Prime Minister of India Jawahar Lal Nehru as the Union Minister for Industry and Supply in the interim government of independent India. He was a very popular mass leader and was widely respected by his colleagues in the Parliament and senior leaders of the Congress including Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. A man of independent thinking, his basic beliefs were decidedly right wing, indo- centric and constitutional. He was a constitutional politician at heart, says Manju Gupta in her book, The Life and Time of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee.
Due to his differences with Nehru over the issue of treatment of Hindus in East Pakistan, he resigned from the Union Cabinet on April 6, 1950. He was opposed to the Nehru-Liaqat Pact of 1950 and held Pakistan directly responsible for the terrible influx of millions of Hindu refugees from East Pakistan, who had left the state fearing religious suppression and violence aided by the state. Mookerjee considered Nehru's actions as appeasement and thus quit the Congress as well. For this act, Syama Prasad Mookerjee was hailed as the hero of West Bengal.
Bharatiya Jan Sangh
Syama Prasad Mokerjee formed the Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJS) on October 21, 1951. BJS supported Hindu nationalism in the country. It stood for free market economics as opposed to the socialist economic policies of Nehru. However, he was against any form of discrimination with the Muslims of India. BJS was also against the cow slaughter and favoured a uniform civil code as enshrined in the Constitution. In 1952 general elections the BJS won three seats including his own. He formed National Democratic Party inside the Parliament comprising of 32 members of the Lok Sabha and 10 members of the Rajya Sabha but was however not recognised as the opposition party by the Speaker.
Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee was against the special status granted to Jammu & Kashmir. He opposed the Congress's decision to grant Kasmir a special status with its own flag, Prime Minister and Constitution. During the first national convention of Jan Sangh at Kanpur in December 1952, he gave the slogan,"Ek Desh mein Do Vidhan, Do Pradhan aur Do Nishan nahi challenge."
There was a rule at that time which prevented any Indian, including the President of India, from entering the state without the permission of the Prime Minister of the state. To protest against this provision, he tried to enter the state without the permission of the Sheikh and was arrested at Lakhanpur on May 11, 1953. He was moved to Srinagar and kept in a dilapidated house near Nishat Bagh and placed under house arrest. He was already suffering from pleurisy, vericose veins and coronary problems. The medical condition kept deteriorating while under house arrest. Dr. Mookerjee also went on hunger strike in support of the "Ek Vidhan, Ek Nishan, Ek Pradhan" movement launched by Praja Parishad and Hindu Sabha in Jammu.
Death
Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee was shifted to hospital in June 1953 and was treated with pencillin despite his repeated warnings to the medical authorities about him being allergic to pencillin. He died while he was in hospital under mysterious circumstances. He was declared dead on June 23, 1953. There was a widespread anger across the nation against his mysterious death and demands for an independent enquiry surfaced. However Nehru refused to concede and the death of this great son of the nation remains shrouded under mystery till date.
On this day today, the whole country remembers this great son of the nation and pays its tribute to a great visionary, statesman and patriot Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee.
( The author is a retired Brigadier, political commentator, security and strategic analyst )
(Opinions expressed in write-ups/articles/Letters are the sole responsibility of the authors and they may not represent the scoopnews.in)
Editor, Scoop News
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