Union Minister and BJP national president JP Nadda paid floral tribute to Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his death anniversary at the BJP Headquarters in New Delhi.
Syama Prasad Mookerjee was the founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the ideological parent organisation of the BJP. He also served as the Minister for Industry and Supply in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s cabinet.
Addressing party workers, Nadda highlighted Mookerjee’s contributions to India’s unity and questioned the circumstances of his death in 1953.
“Due to ideological differences and the appeasement policy of Dr Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee resigned from his cabinet, and later he was among the founding members of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. He opposed the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir,” Nadda said.
Mookerjee, a staunch advocate for a united India, protested against Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Nadda stated that Mookerjee died under mysterious circumstances in Srinagar jail in 1953, and despite demands for an inquiry from his party and his mother, there was none.
“He died mysteriously in Srinagar jail on 23 June 1953. At that time, Bharatiya Jana Sangh was very small. We raised our voice. The opposition said that there should be an inquiry. Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s mother also wrote a letter to Jawaharlal Nehru saying that there should be an inquiry about this, but it was not heard,” he stated.
Meanwhile, lauding Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s efforts on his death anniversary, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Monday said that the Jana Sangh founder roared like a lion and gave the slogan of ‘Ek Vidhan, Ek Samvidhan’.
The Delhi CM asserted that Dr Mookerjee pioneered India’s fight for its integrity even after independence. She mentioned that Syama Prasad Mookerjee gave the slogan “Ye Kashmir Hamara Hai” and didn’t favour the concept of its separate constitution.
“The person who started the fight for the unity and integrity of the nation. There was a time when lakhs of freedom fighters lost their lives and struggled to make India independent. Even after India became independent, if there was any pioneer in the fight for the country’s integrity, then it was Syama Prasad Mookerjee. The one who roared like a lion and said that there will only be ‘Ek Vidhan, Ek Samvidhan’ in one country, ‘Do Vidhan Do Samvidhan’ will not work”, the Delhi CM said while addressing the event.
According to the BJP’s official website, on the issue of the Delhi pact with Liaquat Ali Khan, Mookerjee resigned from the Cabinet on April 6, 1950. Later, on October 21, 1951, Mookerjee founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in Delhi and became its first president.
Mookerjee went to visit Kashmir in 1953 and was arrested on May 11. He died there under detention on June 23, 1953. (ANI)
