(Image source from: Syama Prasad Mukherjee - Man with a Vision)
Today is the 114th birth anniversary of Shri Syama Prasad Mookherjee. On this occasion, it will be good to know more about such a selfless person who has sacrificed his life for the nation and for the Hindus.
Syama Prasad Mukherjee was born to a Bengali family on 6th July 1901 in Kolkata. Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee, father of Syama Prasad Mukherjee was a judge of the High Court of Judicature at Fort William, Bengal, who has also served as the Vice -Chancellor of the University of Kolkata. His mother is Lady Jogamaya Devi Mukherjee. Eminent writer Umaprasad Mukhopadhyay was his younger brother.
Syama Prasad was a brilliant student of English language and literature, but had taken up his M.A degree in Bengali at the insistence of his father, Sir Asutosh Mookerjee, was struggling to give Indian vernaculars including Bengali, their rightful place in the University curriculum, for which there was no respectful place in the University campus. To set an example for himself, Sir Asutosh did not hesitate to instruct his son, a brilliant student in English, to opt for mother-tongue in place of English, for the M.A degree.
Graduated from the Kolkata University, he became a fellow of the Senate in 1923. He enrolled as an advocate in the Kolkata High Court in 1924 after his father's death. He left for England in 1926 to study in Lincoln's Inn and became a barrister in 1927. At the age of 33, he became the world's youngest Vice-Chancellor of the Kolkata University and held the office till 1938.
He was elected as the member of the Legislative Council of Bengal as a Congress candidate representing the Kolkata University, but resigned, when Congress decided to boycott the legislature. He became the opposition leader when Krishak Praja Party - Muslim League coalition was in power in 1937-41 and has joined the Progressive Coalition Ministry headed by Fazlul Haq as a Finance Minister. He emerged as a spokesman for Hindus and shortly joined Hindu Mahasabha and in 1944, he became the President. He wanted the Hindu Mahasabha, not to be restricted to Hindus alone or work as apolitical body for the service of the masses and broke away from it on this issue on November 23, 1948.
Nehru inducted him in the Interim Central Government as a Minister for Industry and supply. On the issue of Delhi pact with Likayat Ali Khan, he resigned from the Cabinet on 6th April 1950. After consultation with Shri Golwalkar, Guruji of RSS, Shri Mookerjee founded Bharatiya Jana Sangh on 21st Oct. 1951 and became the first President. In the 1952 elections, Bharatiya Jana Sangh won 3 seats in Parliament one of them is that of Shri Mookerjee. He had formed National Democratic Party within the Parliament, which consisted of 32 members of MPs and 10 of Members of Rajya Sabha, which however was not recognised by the speaker as an opposition party.
On Kashmir, he termed the arrangement under Article 370 as Balkanisation of India and the three nation theory of Shaikh Abdullah is not acceptable. Bharatiya Jana Sangh along with Hindu Mahasabha and Ram Rajya Parishad launched a massive Satyagraha against Article 370. Mookerjee went to Kashmir in 1953 and was arrested on 11th May while crossing border. He died as detenu on June 23rd, 1953.
Shri Syama Prasad Mukherjee was a veteran politician, who was respected by his friends and foes alike for his knowledge and forthrightness.
By Premji
