Nehru Abdullah Collaboration

8/4/2019 Nehru Abdullah Collaboration

1/42

Neh ru ..Abdu lla h co lla bo ra tio n th at k illedDr . Mooker je e

V.P. Bhatia

The m ore I read about the circum stances leading to the death in detention ofD r. S yam a P rasad M ook erjee in S heik h A bdu llah 's sub -jail in S rinag ar in the earlyhours of June 23,1953, the m ore I am convinced that itw as a planned liquidation ofthe greatest Opposition leader of free India who had emerged as the only realc halle ng e to N eh ru 's le ad ersh ip a fter S ard ar P ate l. M y c on vic tio n is n o d ou bt tin ge dby deep and abiding anguish because of m y personal involvem ent in the episodebecause I travelled in his reserved (th ird class) com partm ent for nearly an hourbetween Yamuna Nagar (Jagadhri) and Ambala on M ay 8, 1953, during histum ultuous last journey from D elhi to Pathankot (M ay 8-11) w hen he w as givenro usin g recep tion s at every statio n, besid es at n ight halts at som e p laces.

For, I had been elected President of the local unit of the J ana Sangh for 1952-53 (because of m y association with the RSS since 1942) and as D r. M ookerjeerem arked while speaking details of our unit in the train : "You are perhaps theyo ung est P resid ent o f an y Jana S an gh un it in In dia." A hu ge fig ure, h e sat uprigh t onthe m id dle b erth w ith b ack against the com partm ent w all, w hile his tw o asso ciates,V aid G uru D utt (w ho w as w earing go gg les) and S hri T ek C hand (a ded icated w orkerfrom D ehra D un) occupied tw o side berths. They w ere sent to keep him com pany ind ete ntio n. M y se lf an d th e: Se cre ta ry o f o ur u nit, D r. A .N . Y erm an , o cc up ied th e b erthadjacent to his for that one hour run to the next halt at A mbala.

T hus 45 years have passed since D r. M ookerjee 's death but the tragedy stillhaunts m e. A s Sarojini N aidu's bro ther and M ookerjee 's co lleague in L ok Sabha,p oe t H a rin dra na th C ha tto pa dh ya ya s aid in a p oetic trib ute to th e d ep arte d le ad er, "Acolossal sun o f in tellect h as set!" E arlier I had heard h is tw o p ub lic speeches at th efirst an nual co nference of th e P unjab Jana S an gh to ward s the en d of 19 52. T he firstw as at a cong reg ation o f lo cal colleg e stud en ts and teachers. It w as a pure cultu raland intellectual feast m ad e in his ty pical deep son orou s sty le. W ith instant reach tothe head and the heart, he depicted his visit to som e South-E ast A sian countries asP res id en t o f M ah ab od hi S oc ie ty o f In dia. It w as an illu min atin g a cc ou nt d esc rib in gthe deep-seated cultural influence of India w hich our successive N ehruvianG ov ernmen ts h av e fa ile d to ta p b ec au se o f th e e xc lu siv e o bse ss io n w ith th e Isla mic

108


2/42

West A sia. E ven em inent people cam e to touch his feet, he said, in deep venerationas cultural am bassador from w hat they still regard as their holy land.

T he second speech w as in response to that ofPanditPrem N ath D ogra, the m ostrespected leader of Jammu and the President of Jammu Praja Parishad, who in am ov in g s pe ec h d ep ic te d S he ik h A bd ulla h's s ec es sio nis t m an oe uv re s a nd v in dic tiv eatrocities on the Hindus, as he had particular anim us towards D ogras of Jam mu.H ow ever, he had full backing of N ehru w ho refused to grant M ookerjee his last onerequest for a m eeting w ith him to-settle the differences am icably. E ven exchange ofsix letters w ith N ehru failed to m ove him . H e seem ed to soften atone statge but thenabruptly changed his m ind, because of Sheikh 's signal. N ehru w as convinced aboutA bdu llah 's trea chery b y th is tim e b ut w as still u nyieldin g. Iro nica lly ; later th e sam eSheikh accused Nehru of callous neglect of M ookerjee when he was in jail. TheS heik h claim ed in h is au tob iog rap hy (Aatish-e-Chinar tra ns la te d b y K h us hw an tSingh) that he wanted enquiry into his death but the C entre did not care. (P, 118).A v oid ab le T ra ge dy

So great was the Sheikh 's hold on Nehru that he turned down even Dr.Radhakrishnan 's advice to meet Mookerjee before he left for Jammu. Thus a'peresonal tragedy' could not be averted, as D r. R adhakrishnan said (V ide,Ra dh ak ri sh na n, A B io grap hy by D r. S . G opal). N ehru's refrain in Parliam ent w asthat nothing could be done to redress the situation because of the U N involvem entw hich in cide ntally h e him selfh ad inv ite d. A no th er p et N ehru via n a rgu me nt w as th athe knew more about K ashm ir than anybody else . To which M ookerjee retorted,"Then what is the use of this Parliament if you alone are to decide everything."Incidentall y, it w as because of this K ashm iri fixation, that N ehru kept K ashm ir outo f S arda r P atel's ju risd ictio n fo r carry ing o n h is o wn disastro us ex perim ents w ith it.

A nyw ay, it w as at the Jalandhar session of Jana Sangh that D r. M ookerjeeannounced full support to the Praja Parishad which launched an agitation for fullintegration of J& K w ith India. A t least 3000 w ere arrested or detained and 39 diedin police firing during this agita tion in six m onths. Sim ultaneously the Jana S anghlaunched an agitation in D elhi and Punjab in support of the PP dem ands. Itwas asa logical clim ax to these agitations that M ookerjee decided to visit Jam mu to studythe situation for him self and in the process violated the .perm it system to enter theState, as he w as refused entry.

It was thus that he embarked on his four day trainjoumey to Pathankot andcrossed into J& K as a prisoner, remained in Abdullah 's jail for 40 days in mostuncom fortable environm ent, in total disregard of his health conditions, and w ashanded back as a dead body in circumstances shrouded in dark mystery. It was nodoubt the clim atic consequence of Nehru-Abdullah conspiracy of deliberatem anoeuvres to cause m axim um dam age to M ookerjee's health and then to m ake itloo k a n atu ral d eath.

109


3/42

Before depicting the actual course of 40 days events culm inating in hisprem ature death, the follow ing extracts from som e relevant books w ould serve as ausefu l backgrounder.

First, excerpts from the Intelligence B ureau chief, B .N . M ullik's M y YearsWith Nehru (A llied P ub lishers) w ritten at the behest o f th e th en H om e M inister, Y .B .C ha va n, in la te six tie s.

Mull ik w as d ep ute d in e arly 1953 by N ehru to talk to th e P raja Pa rish ad le ad ersand the Sheikh to soften both the parties in their respective stands. He m et m anypeople including un dergrou nd P P lead ers w ho "had real causes of griev an ce again stth e State Governm ent and who w ere extremely suspicious of Sheikh A bdullah ..."T hey ag reed to red uce the intensity of the agitation, b ut there w as "little respon se"from the Sheikh, about whose attitude and Nehru 's reaction to it M ullik says asfollows:

"I was surprised to find him (Sheikh A bdullah) a com pletely changed m an.from the tim e I had first m et him in Septem ber, 1949. H e received m e coldly and theng av e m e a lon g lecture. He m ade violent accusations against the D ogras of Jam muin general and the ex - ru ler and the P ra j a Parish ad in particu lar. (M aharaja H ari S in ghhad ab dicated in favou r of h is son , Y uvra j K aran Singh , in 19 49 and leftth e S t at e f orgood to live in B om bay at A bdullah's insistence). H e spoke contem ptuously of theR SS and Jan Sangh of India ... I could not persuade him to desist from indulging inhis them e of the hatred of the D ogras and giving expression to his great contem pt forthem. H e him selfw ould have probably liked the entire D ogra comm unity to m igrateto India and m ake over their lands to persons ()/ his choice. I w as d is ap po in te d,because w hereas I had succeeded in one part of m y m ission, I had com pletely failedin the other ... On m y return to D elhi I reported in detail to the Prim e M inister whathad happened in Jammu and my failure to bring about any change in Sheikh'sattitude ... I also told him the measures which had been initiated by me on theG urdaspur-Jam mu border to seal all the entry routes into Jam mu from India. TheP rim e M in ister appreciated the steps that had been tak en to sto p this infiltration an dsaid that the Sheikh had m ade it an issuethat J ana Sanghisfrom India w ere going intoJam mu and inciting the people ... H e w as, how ever, distressed that the S heik h stillcontinued his hostility to the Hindus of Jammu and gave vent to these feelingspublicly. The Prime M inister commented that all this was due to the Sheikh 'sco mm unal b ack grou nd an d thou gh po litically he h ad tried to tu m a n ew leaf. his h earthad never been able to get over his earlier predilections." (Pp. 32-34)

N ex t, e xc erp ts from th e thenSadr-e-Riyasat . D r . Karan S ingh 's HeirApparent -An Autobiography (O xford U niversity Press; Paperback), on the "w idespreadagitation" started by Praja Parishad on N ovem ber 14, 1952, and it s aftermath:

'' .. .It reflected the w idespread agitation launched by the Praja Parishad on 14Novem ber against Sheikh Abdullah. Their slogan of com plete integration of the

110


4/42

S tate w ith India w as expressed in the rallying cry 'Ek Vidhan, Ek N ishan, EkPradhan' (O ne c on stitu tio no ne flag a nd o ne p resid en t). T his a gitatio n g ath ere dmomen tum ove r th e n ex t f ew month s, a s i t e ff ec tiv ely c ap ita liz ed u po n th e se ns e o foutrage fe lt by th e D og ra s n ot o nly a t h av in g lo st th eir p re domin an t p ositio n in th eS ta te b ut a lso in h av in g at o ne stro ke b een p la ced a t th e m ercy o f th eir a rc h e nemy ,S heikh A bdu llah. T he S heik h, for his part, no t on ly m ad e no effort to m od ify thef ee li ng s o f t he J ammu peop le bu t c on ti nued w i th h is ho st il e a nd agg re ss iv e a tt it ud e.An e xampl e was t he q ue st io n o f _ t hef la g to b e f lown on th e J ammu Sec re ta ria t. T heold S tate flag havin g b een h auled do wn . I h ad su gg ested to th e G overnm en t that,a lo ng w ith th e n ew fla g, th e n atio na l flag sh ou ld a lso b e h oisted . T his w as sh arp lytu rn ed d ow n b y th e S he ik h. an d so I, in tu rn , d eclin ed th e su gg estio n th at I sh ou ldper sonal ly ho is t t he new f la g,"Ka ra n S in g h's W a rn in g

"A fter getting dow n in Jammu I began assessing the situation, and soonr ea liz ed th at th e P ra ja P ar is ha d a gita tio n h ad s pr ea d d ee p a nd w id e th ro ug ho ut th eJ ammu r eg io n. E ve n th ou gh I k new Jawah ar la l' s a ve rsi on to th e P ar is ha d, I f el t it myd uty to in fo rm h im ab ou t th e tru e sta te o f a ffairs. I p re pare d a d etailed n ote w hichanalysed the w hole position and m ade certain concrete recommendations forp olitic al a nd e co nom ic me as ur es th at would h el p to me et th e g en uin e a sp ir atio ns o fth e p e op le o f Jammu an d L ad ak h. A s I p ut it, 'S trip ped o f all its n on -e sse ntials, th es itu atio n is th at wh er ea s J ammu a nd L ad ak h st ro ng ly d esi re c omp le te in te gra tio nwith India, S heikh Sahib and his colleagues are extrem ely insistent upon the"lim ited" nature of the A ccession and are not prepared to agree to com pleteintegration. '

"I urged that the G overnm ent of India m ust .intervenue so that the StateGove rnmen t r ea ct s to th e J ammu a gita tio n n ot o nly w ith p olic e r ep re ss io n b ut withc on cr ete p olit ic al, e co nom ic a nd a dm in is tr at iv e me as ur es . J aw ah ar la l d id w rite toS heik h A bdu llah in the sam e m on th, w ho replied w ith a lo ng letter ju stifyin g th estan d of his G ov ern men t, an d rejecting th e w ho le Jamm u p rob lem as th e w ork o fc ommuna l o rg an iz atio ns a nd a 'v io le nt r ea ctio n o n th e p ar t o f J ammu la nd lo rd s a ndo the r upper c la sse s" .

" . ..The s ituat ion in Jammu is se r ious enough to dese rve our fu ll es t conside rat iona nd su ch p os itiv e a ctio n a sma y b e n ec es sa ry . A t th e same time , o ne h as to v iew th es ema tt er s, a s a ll o th er impo rt an t ma tt er s, c oa ly and d is pa ss ionat el y."

"Mea nwh ile th e J ammu a gi ta ti on s howed n o s ig ns o f a ba tin g a nd . in f ac t, w a st ak en up by l i ke -m inded par ti es i n De lh i, s pe ci al ly t he new ly formed Bhar at iy a J anaS an gh , h e ad ed b y D t. S ha yama P ra sa d Muke rje e, a nd N .C . C h at te rje e, who d ec id edto la un ch a S aty ag ra ha o n a n- all- In dia b asi s. I c on tin ue d to u rg e t ha t th er e s ho uld bea dialo gu e betw een the S tate G overnm en t an d th e agitatio n lead ers, bu t S heik hA bd ulla h w ou ld h av e n on e o f it a nd J aw ah arla l w as a lso av erse to su ch ta lk s. A s h e

1 1 1


5/42

wrote in one of his letters to me (22 M arch, 1953): 'In my view what these peopleh ave do ne is little. sh ort o f treason to th e c ou ntry an d th e p eo ple sh ou ld re aliz e it.' M ysug gestion to S heikh A bd ullah th at m y fo rm al ad dre ss to th e L egislative A ssem blyon M arch 25 could be used as a good opportunity to strike a conciliatory note w asre jec ted by h im .

"A lthough S heikh A bdullah attem pted to dism iss the w hole m atter as the plotof 'reactionary elem ents' , and the G overnm ent of India seem ed in the beginning tosupport that view , I w as deeply disturbed because I realized that the final chance ofbuilding a new D ogra-K ashm iri rapport, w hich alone could ensure the stability andw elfare of the State, w as being lost. I continued to dw ell on this them e in m y lettersto J aw ah arla l, e ve n th ou gh 1knew that he was anergic to the Jana Sangh and PrajaParishad leaders. -

"Apart from the Jammu agitation, there was the broader question ofim plem en tin g th e 'D elh i A gree men t' o n the co nstitution al relatio nsh ip b etw een th eS tate and the C entre that had been earlier w orked out after prolonged negotiationsbetw een Sheikh A bdullah's team and representatives of the G overnm ent of India.Wh ile th e d ec is io n re ga rd in g a bo lish in g th e m on ar ch y h ad b ee n r ap id ly im pleme nte dbecause it suited the Sheikh, he had begun dragging his feet as far as the other item sw ere concerned. It had been clear to m e from the start that he w as less than sincerein his professions, and that he w as sim ply m anoeuvring him self into a position ofstrength in relation to the C entral G overnm ent. H ad he been sincere, w hy the delayin im plem en tin g th e rest of the ag reem en t?

"I had two long m eetings with Nehru on April 21 and M ay 23. A t the secondm eeting he opened up for the first tim e, and expressed his deep anguish at the w aythe situation in the State w as developing. He adm itted that he had no answer w henasked in Parliament or outside as to why the Delhi Agreement had not been-im plem ented. H e said that he had w ritten a long letter to the S heikh pointing out thatthe m atter had been greatly delayed and that, as.he w as going abroad in a few w eeks,he w ould very m uch like t o . see the question finalized before he left. W hen I askedhim w hat reply he had received he turned to m e and said in an incredulous and hurttone, 'I received no reply at all.' H e added that the Sheikh w as thoroughly confusedand w as evidently avoiding m eeting him .

"It was clear that he was deeply disturbed, but he had not quite made up hism ind how to deal w ith the problem . H e w as particularly hurt, even bew ildered, at thehostile m anner in w hich his old protege and friend S heikh A bdullah w as acting, andagreed w ith m e w hen I rem arked that unlim ited pow er seem ed to have brought outth e S he ik h's w ors t f asc is t a nd to ta lita ria n te nd en cie s.

"In deed, th e S heik h's attitu de stead ily b ecam e m ore and m ore intran sig en t. H em ade a speech at R anbirsinghpura, a border tow n near Jam mu, w here he reactedviolently against the Jam mu agitation, w ent on to accuse India of being com munal

112


6/42

and virtually threaten ing that the Accession of the S tate could not be taken forgranted.

"Soon thereafter cam e the shocking new s of the death of D r. Syam a PrasadM ookerjee in detention. I w as not info rm ed o f his illness or his rem oval to hospital,an d only learnt of his death from unofficial so urces several hours after his bod y hadbeen flow n out of S rinagar. T he circum stances in w hich he died in the custody o f theS tate Governm ent were a cause of grave resentm en t and suspicion. Jamm u wasfurious because D r. M ookerjee had been m artyred while fighting for the PrajaParishad cause, and there was open talk that his death had not been from naturalc au se s. T he w ho le o fIn dia w as sh ock ed at th is e ven t, sp ecially th e p eo ple o f B en gal,w ho held D r. M ookerjee in the hig hest regard." (pp. 149-156 )

A s already stated, as President of the local unit 1 accom panied D r. Syam aP rasa d M o ok erjee in h is rese rv ed c om partm en tfo rn early o ne h ou r's 1 1mb etw een th eindustrial tow n of Y am una N agar and A mbala cantonm ent, w here the train reachedat around 2 p.m . T he S ecretary of the unit, D r. A .N . Y erm an w as also w ith m e. T herew as such a huge crod at A mbala sta tion to receive him that it w as difficult for himto get down. Even before he could get down, the President of Ambala C ity JanaS angh, Shri R aghbir Saran A dvocate show ed the latest issue of Illustrated W eeklyo fIn dia , carry in g th e co ve r sto ry : "A fter N eh ru W h o? M o ok erjee o r I P. ?" alongwithp ho to grap hs o f b oth th e lea ders.Me etin g a t Amb ala

D espite the ban order on public m eetings, D r. M ookerjee addressed a hugeg atherin g there in the overflo wing A rya S maj hall in the h ot M ay afternoon w ithinan h ou r a fter h is a m val. O ne of th e m ost conspicuous organisers of the m eeting w asShri A .C . B ali, the N ew s E ditor of Thr Tr ibune . T he daily w as then published fromAmbala before moving to C handigarh a decade later. Shri B ali was a staunchC on gress activist, w ith khadi dress and w hite cap, w hom I had b een seeing since m ystudent days in L ahore. :

In fact, strict ban on m eetings and rounding up of Jana Sangh activ ists wasbeing done at the behest of Sheikh A bdullah w ho kept com plaining to N ehru abou tth e connivan ce of Punjab G overn ment under C hief M inister B him S en Sachar w iththe m ovem ent. Sachar com plied w ith N ehru 's instructions'. A fter attending theA mbala m eeting of D r. M ookerjee, I returned to Y am una N agar.

I was r em inde d o f t he se p er so na l memo ri es b y a recen t meet ing w i th o ne o f th echief organ isers of the m ovem ent, Shri P rem Nath Joshi, M .A ., LL .B . He w as theZ onal Secretary of J ana Sangh, incharge of th e m ovem ent in A mbala division at thattim e. H e w orked underground to avoid arrest. H is printing press w as sealed and hesu ffe re d m uch lik e m an y o th ers fo r th e c au se . S om etim e afte r D r. M o ok erjee ' s d eath ,h e s hifted to D elh i a nd sta rte d p rac tisin g in L ab ou r la w. W h ile h is so n is lo ok in g a fte r

113


7/42

th e p ractice n ow , h e i s b rin gin g o ut a s eries o f b oo klets o n H in du tv a. In fa ct, h e h adta ken th e tro ub le o f ca llin g o n m e to p resen t th e lates t p ub lica tio n Sar va DhannaSambha va-A Sh ee rH ypo cr is y ( Ra sh tr iy a H in du Ma nc h, B h agwa n D as Bu ild in g,C howk G uru dw ara R oa d, K aro l B ag h, N ew D elh i-5 ).

T hough it w as given out that D r. M ookerjee w as arrested for crossing overJ&K borde r b y v io la ti ng t he p erm it s ys tem , a ctu al ly t he r ea so n wa s d if fe re nt . H e wa sarrested under P ublic Safety A ct of J& K . B efore departure from D elhi on M ay 8,1 95 3, h e w ro te to th e D ef en ce M i nis te r a sk in g wh at w as th e le ga l p os itio n a bo ut th eperm it system . B ut he got no reply. E vidently there w as a deliberate, enigm atics ile nc e. T he p ur po se c le ar ly w as to c re ate a n e xc us e.Fasc is t r epress ion

His was a peaceful m ission to find solution to the tw in problem s of fullin te gr at io n o f t he S ta te w it h t he r es t o f t he c ount ry a nd e nd in g a tr oc it ie s o n t he p eop leo f J ammu, w ho h ad la un ch ed a p ow erf ul a gita tio n fo r c omp le te in te gr atio n a nd f ullp ro te ctio n u nd er th e In dia n Co ns titu tio n. H e h ad v is ite d J&K a y ea r e ar lie r, to o, a ndm et A bd ulla h, w ho w as to o sca re d th is tim e b ecau se o f p op ular u psu rg e in J ammure gio n a ga in st h is F as cis t re pre ss io n. H e h ad a lo t to h id e in h is c ommun al f ie fd om .

S ta tin g th e p urp os e o f h is v is it, D r. M oo kerjee s en t a teleg ram to A bd ulla hfrom Ambala as fo llo ws : " I am p ro ceed in g to Ja mmu. My o bject in g oin g th ere is tos tu dy t he s it ua ti on myse lf a nd e xp lo re t he pos si bi li ti es o f c re at in g c ond it io ns l ea di ngto p ea ce fu l s ettleme nt. I will lik e to s ee y ou if p os sib le ."

In a Press statem ent there, he also said, "Perm it system is m eant to preventfo reig ners, p artic ularly P ak istan i ag en ts , from en te rin g K ashmir an d o bta in in gm ilita ry s ec re ts a nd n ot to p re ve nt r es pe cta ble c itiz en s f rom movin g in th e c ou ntry .A s aM ember of Parliam ent I have a right to go to every place w ithin In dia to studythe situation there. T hat is w hy I did not apply for a perm it ... It is m y w ish to seeS heik h A bd ulla h als o. I s e~ n o reas on w hy h e s ho uld refu se."Tum ultuous receptions .

Ear lie r, tw o o fD r . Mo ok er je e's c olle ag ue s, B a rris te r U .M . T riv ed i a nd G .V .D eshpand e, both M Ps, had tried to go to J& K in m id-A pril. T hey had applied forp erm it s b ut th e De fe nc e Mini st ry r ef us ed . When t he y p ro ce ed ed w it hou t p erm it , t he yw ere a rr es te d a t J ala nd ha r u nd er P re ve ntiv e D ete ntio n A ct. H ow ev er , n ow wh en D r.M ookerjee proceeded to enter J& K w ithout perm it, he w as allow ed to go into theS tate acco rd in g to a set c on sp iracy : w hic h sta rted u nfo ld in g at J alan dh ar. Wh ilee ntr ai ni ng f or Amr it sa r a ft er a dd re ss in g aP r es s c on fe re nc e h e wa s t ol d by t he Depu tyCommis sio n er o fGu rda spur t ha t t he Punj ab Gove rnmen t h ad d ec id ed t o p r ev en t h imfrom rea ch in g P ath an ko t. "I am e xp ectin g in stru ctio ns from my G ov ernmen t as towher e you shou ld b e pu t u nde r a rr es t. "The DC had pos te d h imsel f i n D r. Mooke rj ee 'sc omp artm e nt, a cc or din g to a P re ss r ep or t la te r d en ie d b y N eh ru .

114


8/42

Meanwh ile , th ere w ere more tumu ltu ou s w elcome s o n th e w ay . A t Am ritsara c rowd o f tw e nty th ou sa nd a dm ir er s re ce iv ed h im a t t he r ai lw ay s ta ti on . H e h alte dfo r the nig ht th ere. F ro m Am ritsar to P athank ot th ere w ere literally tho usan dswa itin g fo r h im a t e ve ry s ta tio n; Howe ve r, so on a fte r a rr iv al a t P a th an ko t o n May 11,th e same D .C . o fG u rd asp ur, w ho h ad p rec ed ed h im , in fo rm ed h im th at h e h ad b ee nin stru cte d b y h is G ov ernm en t to allow h im a nd h is comp an io ns to p ro cee d w ith ou tperm it. However, he aded, "Though no lim it has been put on the number ofc omp an io ns y ou c an t ak e w it h y o u, I w ill a d vis e to ta ke o nl y a f ew ." T he i nf ormatio nin trig ued D r. M oo ke rje e. H e w on de red w hy th e GO I h ad c ha ng ed th e p la n.

O bviously, a high level decision had been taken to put him in the hands ofAbdu lla h who c ou ld d ea l w ith h im a s h e lik ed . F o r, e ntr y in to th e S ta te woul d p ut h imb eyon d th e p ro te ctio n o f th e Sup reme Cou rt o fI nd ia a s t he v er y p ermit sy stem c ou ldbe ch allen ged. H ow ev er, it w as giv en ou t that h e h ad d efied a ban on his en try intot he S ta te , a s Dr. Ka ra n S in gh s ay s in h is b oo k c ite d e ar li er . B u t h e was to ld ab=tt th eb an o nly a fte r h e c ro ss ed in to th e S ta te . T he f ac t w a s th att he Neh ru Gove rnmen t w ass ca re d o f h is p op ula rity a nd wan te d a r es pi te b y p us hin g h im in to th e c ap tiv ity o f th eS he ik h w ho w as n o le ss sc are d a nd b eh av ed lik e a m ed ie va l Islamic d esp ot. M an yf ri end s and col le agues i n Pa rl iamen t, i nc lud ing Smt. Suchet a K r ip al an i, h ad t ri ed t od is su ad e h im f rom h is ill- fa te d m is sio n. S ar sa ng hc ha la k Gu ru ji to o wa s r ep or te d toh av e sen t a sim ila r m essag e. B ut h e saw n o d an ge r in a fre e co un try . B esid e, h e h adto k eep h is w ord w ith the peop le o f Jamm u, com e w hat m ay .

N eh ru was to l ea ve o n amon th 's h olid ay a br oa d to L on do n among o th er p la ce st o a tte nd th e Qu ee n's c or on atio n a nd th e Common we alth c on fe re nc e. H e wa nte d a llqu ie t i n h is a bs ence . Abdul la h has s ta te d i n h is a ut ob iogr aphy t ha t Nehru ( al ongw it hHome M in is te r K a tju ) h ad v is ite d S ri na ga r in la st w e ek o fMay wh en D r. Mook er je ewa s i n d e te nti on b ut h e n ev er c ar ed to me et h im . I n f ac t, h e n ev er s howed a ny c on ce rnfo r h im , fo r h e co nsid ere d th e w ho le mov em en t "tre ac he ro us" as D r. K ara n S in ghsays. N eh ru w as in C airo o n w ay b ack to India w hen the n ew s of D r. M ook erjee'sd eath on Ju ne 23 reached him .

T o c ome b ac k to th e c ou rs e o f e ve nt s. D r. Mook er je e p ro ce ed ed towar ds J&Kb ord er o n M ay 1 1 aftern oo n a fter a ro ya l se nd o ff a t P a th an ko t. P eo ple lin ed b othsides of the m ain bazar as his jeep passed through the tow n. The party reachedMadhop ur ch ec kp os to n th eR av i b rid ge at4 p .m . o nMay 11. " T he D .C . o f Gu rd as pu ran d o th er o ffic ers saw h im o ff a nd w ish ed h im an e njo ya ble jo urn ey . B ut a s so on ashis jeep reached the cen tre o f the b ridg e, h e fou nd th e ro ad blo ck ed by a po sse ofK ashmir p olice . T he jee p sto pp ed an d a p olic e o ffic er h an de d o ve r to h im a n o rd erof the C hief S ecretary o f the S tate dated M ay 10 , 1 95 3, bann ing his entry in to theS ta te ." (De ta ils b as ed o n T he P ortra it o fa M a rty r, b y P ro f. B alraj M ad ho k. P ro f.Ma dh ok wa s t h e movin g s pir it b eh in d t he f ou nd in g o fP ra ja P ar is h a d i n 1 94 8 a n d o neo f th e c lo se st a ss oc ia te s o f D r. Mook er je e in th os e f ate fu l d ay s.)

115


9/42

D r. M ookerjee read the order and said: "I have been perm itted by theG ov ernm en t o f In dia to p ro ce ed . Wh at is it n ow ?" " I am S up erin te nd en t o f P olic eK a th ua ," t he o ff ic er r ep lie d. " I h av e b ee n i ns tr uc te d to h an d o ve r th is o rd er to y ou ."Wh en D r. M o ok erjee sa id h e in te nd ed to p ro ce ed to Jammu , h e w as g iv en a no th ero rd er a rre stin g h im u nd er th e P u blic S afe ty A ct o f J&K . H e g ot d ow n f rom h is je epa lo ng w ith tw o o th er c olle ag ue s, V aid ya G uru D utt a nd S hr i T ek C ha nd . A ll th re ew ere p ut u nd er a rr est. T he re st w ere a sk ed to r etu rn .

T he tra p d oo rw a s th us sh ut. T he S he ik h G ov ernm en t w as n ow f re e to d o w ha ti t l ik ed t o f in is h t he a rc h e nemy o f t he Ne hr u-Abdul la h a xis . D r . Mooke rj ee to ld h isr etu rn in g c omp an io ns th at h e s en se d a c on sp ir ac y b etwe en th e S ta te a nd th e C e ntr alG ov ern men ts. "I h av e en tered th e J&K S tate, tho ug h as a p riso ner," w as h is lastm essa ge to h is c ou ntrym en . .

Max imum phys ic al d is comfor t wa s c au sed t o t he i ll us tr iou s p ri soner a ft er t ha t.N o re ga rd w as p aid to th e fa ct th at h e su ffe re d from h ig h b lo od p re ssu re a nd a h ea rta ilme nt . H e b ro ug ht th is f ac t to th e n ot ic e o f th e S ta te a ut ho riti es b ut to n o p ur po se .S heikh A bdullah has cited the C entre 's "nod" for taking him to the unsuitabler ar ef ie d c limate o f h ig h a lti tu de in S ri na ga r r ath er th an k ee pi ng h im i n th e s uit ab leclim ate o f Jammu re gio n. H e c ou ld h av e b ee n k ep t h im in U d hamp ur o r K u d, w he reShe ik hAbdull ah wa s t ra ns fe rr ed a t h is own r eq ue st a ft er h is d ism is sa l a nd a rr es t o nAugu st 9 , 1 95 3.

A nyw ay, D r. M ookerjee w as rushed past Jam mu in a closed jeep w hilet hou sand s kep t wa it ing for h is a rr iv a l f or hour s t il l n igh t. Thus began t he l iqu id a ti onc on sip ra cy b y c au sin g h im maximum phy si ca l d is com fo rt . F or , it was a po st -h a st ejo ur ne y o n a h il ly te rr ain . A f te r a n h o ur 's s ta y a t L a kh an pu r, t he d et en us we re r us he dto U dh am pu r reachin g th ere at 1 0 p.m . H e w an ted to tak e rest th ere as h e w as d eadti re d a ft er n ea rly s ix .h ou rs h ou rn ey . B u t th e o ff ic er -in -c ha rg e s aid it would b e d on eat B ato t w here th ey reach ed at a 2 a.m, S leepin g fo r a few h ou rs, th ey w ere ag ainh as ti ly move d towar ds S rin ag ar ja il wh er e t he y r ea ch ed a t 3 p .m . F rom t he re a ga in ,they w ere taken to a sm all co ttage, eigh t m iles fro m S rinag ar n ear N ish at B agh ,wh ic h wa s c on ve rt ed in to a s ub -ja il. I t w a s in t his d es ol ate , a ba nd on ed c ott ag e w itha sm all g ard en th at h e sp en t th e rem ain in g 4 0 d ay s o f h is life fro m M ay 1 2 to Ju ne22 w hen he w as rem oved to G overnm ent N ursing H om e in S rinagar in seriouscondition.

It w as given out to the w orld outside that this cottage w as a beautiful spoto ve rlo ok in g s ylv an s ce ne ry . B u t it w a s a God- fo rs ak en p la ce , c ut o ff f rom t he wo rld .Ther e we re no r ead il y avai la b le med ic al f ac il it ie s, no t el ephone . Doc to rs c oul d comeo nly w he n re qu is itio ne d. T ele ph on e f ac ility w as a va ila ble in a c an al d ep artm en to ff ic e, a g oo d h un dr ed y ar ds away . T h e b ra ci ng c lima te wa s n o u se t o h im . A s a lr ea dys ta te d, t he r ar ef ie d h igh a lt it ud e a tmosphe re wa s ha rmfu l f or h is phys ic al c ond it iono f h ig h b lo od p re ssu re . H e c ou ld n ot h av e a de qu ate w alk s e ve n th ou gh th ere w as n os ec ur it y r is k i n th at s ol ita ry p la ce .

116


10/42

A s h e w ro te to h is fam ily on M ay 2 5, 1 95 3, "P erm issio n is lim ited on ly to aw alk a lo ng th e g ard en p ath . It ta ke s tw o o r th re e m in ute s to c ov er th e d is ta nc e. It isth er e o n ly a nd in th e o pe n s pa ce th at lie s a he ad o f it th at I ta ke th e stro ll. T his h ou sei s v e ry small ,"

A gain, "P erm ission could not be had for a stroll outside the garden in themo rn in g a nd i n t he a fte rn oo n. I t ak e a wa lk in t he n ar row p at h in si de t he g ar de n. T heg ard en is n ot la rg e. T he re a re te n o r tw elv e p olic em en w ho k ee p th e g ua rd le st th ereb e lo ss o f p re st ig e. "

T he co nsp iracy fu rth er u nfo ld ed w hen th e Inspecto r G eneral o f P riso ns,Co lonel R .N . Chopr a, v is it ed t hi s " sub -j ai l" a f ew days a ft er D r . Mooker je e' s a rr iv al ,H e wa s a sk ed wh eth er h e c ou ld t ak e a s tr ol l o u ts id e. " Th is is a smal l ma tte r. Yo u c antak e a stro ll o n th e can al b ank . P olice g uard w ill accompan y y ou ," said C olo nelC hop ra a nd i ns tr uc te d t he Sup re in te nd en t o f th e s ub -j ail a nd t he Po li ce I ns pe ct or o nduty accordingly. H ow ever, w hen D r. M ookerjee got ready next m orning. theS up er in te nd en t sa id , h e h ad n ot re ce iv ed a ny o rd er . It w as n ot r ec eiv ed till Ju ne 2 0w hen the p riso ner w as p hy sically un fit to m ove ev en . It w as learnt th at S heikhA bdullah had put his foot dow n. H e w anted no m ore facility to be given to hisi l lus trious capt ive .

D r. Mook er je e's a pp etit e s ta rte d we ak en in g s oo n a fte r d ete nti on . A c ute p ai nstarted in his right leg w hich w ent on interm ittently. H e started having hightem peratu re. H e w as g ettin g w eak ev ery day . H e w ro te ab out it to h is fam ily w hoa sk ed th e family p hy sic ia n, D r. B .C . R oy , th e th en C hie f M in iste r o f W e st B en ga l,to contact K ashm ir. D r. R oy, w ho sent an angry telegram to A bdullah at D r.M oo kerjee's d eath d id n't seem to b oth er m uch at th e tim e o r pro ved in effectiv e.P erh ap s h e w as a fra id o f N eh ru 's tem pe r a nd k ep t q uie t.

N o n ea r re la tio n o r f rie nd w as a llowe d to in te rv ie w th e S he ik h's illu strio usc ap ti ve , D r . Syama Pras ad Mooker je e, du ri ng h is d e te n ti on i n a God -for sa ken p la ce ,e ig ht-m ile s f rom S rin ag ar, H is so n w as re fu se d p erm it in D elh i to v isit S ri n ag ar .E ve n som e r ela tio ns a lr ea dy in S rin ag ar w er e n ot a llowe d to m ee t h im . Tw o MP s,S ard ar H uk am S in gh an d S hri U .M . T riv ed i. w ere allo wed to see h im , as a hab eascorpus petition w as to be field in the J& K H igh C ourt at Justice M ehr C handMaha ja n's s ug ge st io n. H e u se d t o w r ite h is d ia ry r eg ula rly b ut it d is ap pe ar ed a ft erh is tr ag ic d ea th . S om e o f th e le tte rs w ritten b y h im n ev er r ea ch ed h is fam ily .

O n Ju ne 1 9. P an dit P rem N ath D og ra w as tak en to S rin ag ar to b e lo dg ed w ithh im fo r c on su lta tio ns to w ith dra w th e mo veme nt a t B ak sh i G hu lam Mo hammad 'sin itia tiv e w ho w as th en m aste rm in din g a c ou p a gain st S heik h A bd ulla h. B ut D r.M o ok erje e's c on ditio n b ec am e se rio us o n 2 0th mo rn in g. H e c ou ld n ot e ve n ta lk toP t. D o gra . D oc to rs A li M u hammad a nd R ain a a rr iv ed o nly a t 1 1.3 0 a .m . a fte r fo urh ou rs . D r . A li Muhammad p re sc ri be d s tr ep tomyc in in je ctio n a ft er d ia gn os in g d ryp le ur is y. D r . Mooker je e ob je ct ed s ay ing t ha t h is f ami ly phys ic ia n had t ol d h im i t d i d

117


11/42

n ot s uit h is s ys tem . B u t th e p ro te st w as b ru sh ed a sid e. V aid ya G ur u Dutt w an te d h isrelativ es to b e in fo rm ed . B ut th e w ho le th in g w as k ep t s ecret till h is d ea th .

Next day a junior surgeon cam e to attend to him . B ut Dr. M ookerjee'sc ondi ti on d et er io ra te d. He h ad a s ev er e h ea rt a tt ac k a t 4 a .m . On get ti ng i nf ormat io n,D r. A liMu h ammad r ea ch ed a t 7 . 30 a .m . H e a dv is ed s hiftin g h im to th e S ta te N ur sin gH ome immed ia te ly . A ta xi c ar a rr iv ed o nly fo ur h ou rs la te r. P t. D og ra , V aid ya G ur uD utt and Tek C hand w ere refused .perm ission to accom pany him . T he lO -m ilejo urn ey to h osp ital itself w as ex trem ely e xertin g. P re cio us tim e w as lo st at ev erystage.

H e seem ed to feel better w hen B arrister T rivedi m et him at 7 .3 0 p.m . H e w asch eerfu l th ro ug ho ut th e w eek . T he d octo rs s aid th e w ors t h ad p ass ed . H e w ou ld b eX -r ay ed n ex t mo rn in g. a nd wou ld b e a llrig ht in a d ay o r tw o , th ey s aid . S hr i T riv ed iwent away but was picked up from his hotel to go to hospital at 3.45 a.m . Dr.Moo kerjee h ad alread y. p ass ed aw ay . P t. P re m N ath D og ra, V aid ya G uru D utt a ndSh riTe k Chand we re b ro ught a t4 .3 0 a .m . Th e medi ca l b u ll et in s ai d h e h ad d ev el op edp ain in th e h ea rt a re a a t 1 p .m . a nd h is p uls e s to pp ed a t 3 .4 0 a .m. H ow ev er, a cc or din gto a h os pital so urce, h e p ass ed aw ay at 2 .3 0 a.m . O xy ge n w as n ot g iv en to h im a t all.a s c laimed.

M ore dam aging facts cam e to light, calling for investigation w hich w asdogge dly r ef us ed ; H is c ondi ti on sudde nl y d et er io ra te d a ft er a p ar ti cu la r d oc to r g av eh im a n in je ctio n a t 1 a .m, a s a " pr ec au tio na ry m ea su re ". B u t th e s am e d oc to r r ef us edto c ome whe n th e n u rs es fr an tic ally p ho ne d h im th at D r. Mo ok er je e' s c on ditio n h adworsened.

T here w as a w id esp read feelin g in H in du circles in S rin ag ar th at h e h ad b eenm urd ered . S om e h ad p lead ed th at h e sh ou ld n ot b e left alo ne in th e N ursin g H om e.B u tth er e w as n o h elp . A Sup erin te nd en t o f P o lic e o pe nly s ho ute d, " Th ey h av e k ille dhim." (Vide Ba lr aj Madhok, e ar li er c it ed ).

T he trag ed y rem ain s s hro ud ed in m ystery b eca use N eh ru h ad re fu sed to h olda n e n qu iry . N eh ru w as a lw ay s a fr aid o f d oin g a ny th in g th at a ff ec te d S he ik h's o r h isow n im age, though w ithin seven w eeks, on A ugust 9,1953. he had to agree to hisd ism is sa l. Bu t t ha t t o o wa s much a ga in st h is w ishe s. L ik e K r is hn a Menon 's d ism is sa lin the w ake of the C hinese attack, this too w as to save his ow n skin. H ow ever,a cc or din g to th e th en IB c hie f, B .N . Mu llik (M y Year s Wi th Nehru ), N eh ru w as n otr ec on ci le d t o She ik h's d et en ti on . I t w a s K i dwa i who ma st erm inde d t he u lt ima te f al l,w ith M aulana A zad's consent. T hey w anted to oust h im before he could do "anym ore d am ag e to th e in te re sts o f th e Mu slim s o f In dia ".

T he re w as a g e ne ra l b elie f th at D r. Mo ok er je e h ad b ee n liq uid ate d b ec au se th eJ& K High C ourt was going to release him the next day. Argum ents had beenc on clu de d b y e ar lie r e ve nin g. D r. Mo ok erje e w as e xp ec te d to c orn e o ut v ic to rio us

118


12/42

in another day. The Sheikh was already desperate, as a revolt was brewing in hisC ab in et ag ain st h im fo r h is an ti-In dia fu lm in atio ns an d dicta to rial w ay s. O nly M irz aA fz al B eg w as on his side. A political sea-change w as in the offing under the surface.H e w anted to throw out B akshi Ghulam M uham mad and tw o others (Sham Lal Sarafand Girdhari Lal D ogra). B ut B akshi proved cleverer and turned the tables on him .T he Sheikh did not have the least inkling w hen the Sadr-e-R iyasat, the 22-year-oldK aran Singh's order for his dism issal and arrest w as served to him at G ulm arg R estHouse. On a stormy evening, he was alleged to have gone there to meet someP ak istan i a gen ts in clu din g a n in tellig en ce o ffic er. In fa ct, th e S heik h w as so co ck su reof his popularity, that he never thought anybody could dare topple him . H ow ever, hehad snuffed out a great life before being sacked.

Itill rem ember what a shock it was when we received the news in my town.It was burning hot, around 2 p.m., when the local RSS Pracharak (Raviji) camecycling after m e w hen he saw m e travelling in a rickshaw . H e asked m e to com e dow nand then broke the news. W e were too dumb-founded to say anything to each otherjust then. Everything around seem ed to w ear a pall of gloom . W e held a condolencem eeting the sam e evening. Nobody had any spirit left to say m uch.

That was the end of my brief political career. Dr . Mook e rj ee 's toweringin te lle ct ha d b een th e c hief a ttrac tio n. I w as ru nn in g a p riv ate co ac hin g c olle ge at th attim e after doing my B.A. from the East Punjab University (Evening) College inD elh i. M y stu die s h ad b een in terru pted tw ic e, firstly d ue to p artitio n an d th en fo r lac ko f me an s. I w as preparing for M.A. (E ng lis h) e xam in atio n p riv ate ly u nd er refu geeregulations and was side by side doing teaching work. Now I paid wholeheartedatten tio n to stud ies. It w as a sh eer flu ke th at Itood first in the U niversity and at oncegot a lecturer's job in a college in A mbala. Fifteen years later, over-involvem ent inanother kind of politics, union politics, as chairm an of H aryana L ecturers' U nion,brought m e to D elhi, in search of a c hange. In betw een cam e an offer of Principals hip,w hich I could not avail, due.to an accident that kept m e bed-ridden for four m onths.Even otherw ise it did not suit m y nature.

It is interesting to note, how even after S heikh A bdullah's detention in A ugust1953, Nehru kept pressing for his release. B ut B akshi w ould never agree. To againquote B.N . Mu1lik:

"T he P rim e M inister had neverreconciled him self to S heikh A bdullah' s arrestand detention for a prolonged period w ithout trial. The democrat that he was, hecould not tolerate detention w ithout trial even of his confirm ed enem ies. So, he usedto press the K ashm ir G overnm ent every six m onths or even oftener either to placethe Sheikh on trial or to release him . O ur investigation received a severe jolt w henon January 8, 1958, Sheikh Abdullah was released. At that time we had piecedtogether a great deal of evidence against him and it w as apparent that he w as the m ainconspirator and that if he w as let out, it w ould be difficult to proceed against other

119


13/42

ac cu se d p erso ns b ec au se th ey co uld a lw ay s d iso wn th e S he ik h ... H ow ev er, o ur o nlyhope w as that intox icated w ith h is new ly found liberty w hich he m ust have ascribedto h is stre ng th in th e K ash mir V alle y an d w hich u ltim ately th e g ov ern me nt c ou ld n otignore, the Sheikh m ight stick out his head too m uch and in that process exposeh im se lf fu rth er.an d b rin g to lig ht m ore in crim in atin g e vid en ce a gain st h im self; an dth is is w ha t h ap pe ne d." (M y Years With Nehru, P. 77 )

In fact, B akshi outsm arted him in the battle of procession s and the S heikh lostface w hen he failed to appear ata congregation at H azrat B al for fear of firing.

In a nutshell, the Sheikh had to be arrested again three m onths later on A pril28,1958, as h e w ent about in citin g Islam ic feelin gs and preaching m ob violence tob rin g d ow n th e S tate G ov ern me nt. H is o utfit w as all alo ng rec eiv in g a rm s a nd m on eyfrom Pakistan . H e w as sending coded m essages across the border and to Paki H ighC om mission even w hen he w as in jail. For, the spraw ling K ud "jail" w as as good asan open house. A nyone could co me and m eet him there. It w as like a Bara t Ghar. TheSheikh w as allow ed to rear poultry and sheep as he h im self says in Aatish-i-Chinar( Ab rid ge d a nd tra ns la te d b y K h us hw an t S in gh , P .1 30 ). H e c alls it " ex pe rim e ntin g" .H e had in fact the rep utation o f being h uge eater, w ith insatiable app etite for m eat.In te re stin gly , h e d esc rib es h is so n F aro oq , th en a stu de nt in M e dica l C olle ge, Ja ip ur,as c om in g to se e h im In "tattered c lo th es" a lth ou gh th e fam ily w as g ettin g h ug e su msfro m P ak istan , a part fro m N eh ru 's p atr~ na ge.

Anyway , itis in te re stin g to re ad P an dit N eh ru ' s fa ith in d em oc ra tic lib erty an dopposition to "detention w ithout trial" of even enem ies. O bviously , this loftyp rin cip le d id n ot ap ply to th e g re atest O pp ositio n lea der o fIn dia a nd fo rm er C ab in etcolleague, who had fought tooth and nail against Preventive Detention B ill inP arlia men t. S o h e allo wed th e sad istic S he ik h to d o w hat h e lik ed wi th h im . T his o nlym ean s one thing-that for N ehru D r. M ookerjee w as w orse than an enem y. F or, onlyD r. M ookerjee had the calibre to take him head on in Parliam ent. N ehru saw him asth e biggest threat to his autocratic rule, as the one w ho w as b ent on sm ash in g h isim age and sm ashing the C ongress also thereby as D urga D as says in F rom Cu rto ntoN ehru (P, 37 3). A nyone challenging the N ehru dynasty 's d ivine right to rule hasbeen treated as a traitor by the m onopolistic N ehrus, as the Em ergency episodep ro ved to th e h ilt la te r.

A s D r. K aran S ingh says, Nehru considered all those invo lved in the PrajaParishad m ovem ent as tra itors. B ut D r. M ookerjee w as m ore than a traitor to him .T he Sheikh too had the sam e inim ical view of D r. M ookerjee . F or exam ple, read thefo llo win g p assa ge fro m Mu llik 's b oo k:

"The news of D r. Syama Prasad M ookerjee's death on June 23, 1953, indeten tion reached us in London. Pandit N ehru w as seriously concerned about thepossib le repercuss ions in In dia a nd th e co nse qu en t fu rth er h ard en in g o f th e S he ik h'sa ttitu de . I nd ee d, th ere w as c ritic is m a ll o ve r In dia a bo ut th e w ay th is r es pe cte d le ad er

120


14/42

had been treated in K ashm ir and the w eakness w hich the G overnm ent of India hadshow n in the m atter. A very strongly w orded telegram cam e from D r. B .C . R oy, theC hief M inister of W est B engal, dem anding to know from the Sheikh w hy he had notbeen inform ed about D r. M ookerjee's illness w hen he had been the latter's fam ilyphysician for years and how the K ashm ir G overnm ent had allow ed this to happen.D uring Pandit N ehru 's absence, M aulana A zad w as consulted about delivering thetelegram to the Sheikh as it was apprehended that the latter's reaction would beviolent; but the M aulana Sahib opined that a com munication from Dr. B ~C . Roycould on no account be w ithheld. S o, the telegram w as delivered. T he Sheikh did nothave the courtesy to send a reply or even express regret. H is attitude w as that as D r.M ookerjee w as the founder leader of the Jana Sangh, w hich w as helping his m ortalenemy, i.e ., the Praja Parishad, and as Dr. Mookerjee had broken the law infurtherance of agitation for the com plete integration of Jam mu and K ashm ir w ithInd ia to w hich the S heikh w as o pp osed , he d id no t d ese rve an y sp ecial co nside ratio nan d ha d to m eet the c onseq uen ces o fhis a ctio n. In a ny c ase , th e K as hm ir G ov ernme nthad not thrown him into jail but kept him under house arrest and had arranged forproper medical attendance. C riticism of the K ashm ir Governm ent's action indetaining Dr. M ookerjee, leading to his death, continued allover Indian and w asparticularly vehem ent in W est B engal for quire som e tim e and Sheikh A bdullahfound in this am ple support for his allegation that India w as secular in nam e but w asbasically communal and sci K ashm ir could have no honourable place in thatcountry." (P.38-39 I ta li cs a dd ed )

M ullik says above that the Sheikh had not the courtesy to send a reply to D r.B .C . R oy's te legram or to express regret. B ut how courteous N ehru him self w as,hig hligh ted b y h is atro cio us silenc e to a ng uish ed letters of D r. M ook erjee's re vere dold m other, late Sir A shutosh M ookerjee's w idow , Sm t. Jogm aya D evi. This w asapart from his total stonewalling of a judicia l or any sort o f enquiry into thecircum stances leading to the revered leader's death. O bviously, both w ere birds ofthe sam e feather. B oth had skeletons in their cupboards. It w as a m urder m ost foul,which the two megalomaniacs refused to prove otherwise. .

To give the devil his due, here is S heikh A bdullah 's version ofthe detentionan d d eath of D r. S ya ma P rasad M oo ke rjee in p riso n w hen h e w as just 52 , as p ub lish edi n h is a u tob iog ra phy Aatish-e-Chinar (F lame s o f C hin ar ):

"C om munal elem ents did not like the D elhi A greem ent. T he Indian m edia w asalso critic al. S om e n ew sp ap ers w ent to th e ex ten t o f w ritin g that in stea d of K ash miracceding to India, in fact, India had acceded to K ashm ir. In Jam mu, Praja Parishadstarted a m ovem ent w hich w as financed by M aharaja H ari S ingh and his coterie.T hey w anted a co mp lete m erge r of th e S tate in the In dian U nio n. J a waharlal, th e th enhead of the Intelligence D epartm ent-B .N . M ullik confirm s in his book M y YearsWithNehru-told him that he had every sym pathy w ith the Jana Sangh and theP rajaP arish ad 's d em and for a com plete m erg er o f K ash mir w ith In dia b ut w as w orried th at

121


15/42

it w ould create a fu rore in the S ecu rity C oun cil. O th er lead ers like JayaprakashNar ay an .a nd Ac ha ry a K ri pa la ni a ls o s up po rte d th e P ra ja P ar is ha d. Jawah ar la l h adto ask them to w ind d ow n their supp ort an d no t allo w the situatio n to g et fu rthercomplica ted . ..

" Th e C en tr al D e pa rtme nt o f D ef en ce h ad in tr od uc ed a p erm it s yst em f or e ntr yi nt o and exi t f rom cer ta in s pe ci fi ed a re as i nKa s hmir . Th is s ys tem adver se ly a ff ec te dtourism w hich w as the largest natural industry of K ashm ir. D r. Syam a PrasadMooke rj ee , t he founder o f t h e J a na Sangh , d emanded t he r epe al o f t he permit s ys tem .When th e De fe nc e De pa rtme nt r ef us ed , D r. Mook er je e a nn ou nc ed h is in te ntio n tod ef y t h e g ov er nme nt o rd er a nd e nte r K a shm ir w it ho ut a p erm it. A s so on a s h e c ro ss ed 'the brid ge at M adh op ur on th e Jamm u bo rder on M ay 8, 19 53 , h e w as arrested . H ew as b ro ug ht to S rin ag ar an d lo dg ed n ea r N ish at B ag h. (It w as M ay 1 1, a nd n ot M ay8).

"While D r. Mook erj ee was i n p ris on , P an dit N e hr u a nd Maula na Az ad v isit edK ashmir b ut n eith er o f th em b oth ere d to m ee t h im . Wh en I le arn t th at h e w as sic k o fh is so lita ry c on fin em en t I o rd ere d th at P an dit P rem N ath D og ra , w ho w as arre stedin J ammu in c on ne ctio n w ith th e a gita tio n o f th e P ra ja P ar is ha d, s ho uld b e b ro ug htto S rin ag ar an d l od ge d w ith D r. M o ok erje e. O ne morn in g I w as in fo rm ed b y P an ditShyam La l, M ini st er f or J ai ls , t h atO r. Mooke rj ee had s uf fe re d ama s si ve he ar t a tt ac k.I w as sh oc ke d. H e d ied d urin g th e n ig ht o f Ju ne 2 3,1 95 3. N ew s o f th e d eath sp re adlike w ildfire. H is d ead b od y w as flo wn to D elhi. F rom th e start I w as not infavouro f d eta in in g h im in S rin ag ar , B u t th e Home M in is te r, B a ks hi Ghulam Mohammad ,h ad h is own r ea so ns , p lu s th e n od f rom Del hi. I c ou ld n ot d o mu ch . P re ssu re moun te dfo r a n e nq uiry in to th e c ircum sta nce s lea din g to D r. M o ok erjee 's d eath . I a sk ed th eCent re t o appo in t a c ommi tt ee , bu t no onepa id a tt en ti on . The P r aj a Pa ri sh ad i ns is te do n my remov al, u sin g th e d ea th o f D r. M o ok erje e as th e compe llin g re aso n.

" Pa nd itNe br u b ec ame th e ta rg et o f c ommuna l a ng er a nd was th re ate ne d w it hph ysical harm . H is su ppo rters tried to defuse the tensio n. R afi A hm ed K idw aic on tac te d P an dit M au li C ha nd ra S harm a (w ro ng ly m en tio ne d a s P t. M oo ki C ha ndS ha rm a in th e b oo k), P re sid en t o f th e P un jab Ja na S an gh (h e in fa ct su cce ed ed D r.Mooke rj ee a s i n te rim a ll -I nd ia P re si dent ) who ins is te d t ha t! b e r emoved f rom o ff ic e.I f ound t he -s it ua ti on un te nabl e ...

. " Th e J a na S an gh a ndPr aja Pa ris ha d wer e d ema nd in g my a rr es t a s t he p ric e f orc hang ing t he ir ho st il e a tt it ud e t owa rd s J awaha rl al , I t wa s, t he re fo re , a gr eed t ha t I b em ade the scapegoat. A jit Prasad Jain and (Gen.) B .M . K aul were given therespo nsib ility to p rep are th e g roun d for 'O peratio n A ugu st'. T he co nsp irato rssu rp asse d th e e xp ec ta tio ns o f th eir m asters in c ru elty . T ho se w ho b elie ve th at th ee pi so de h ad n ot r ec eiv ed th e b l es sin gs o f J awa ha rla l N eh ru s ho uld b e r ef er re d to th estatem ent of B .N . M ullik who w anted a strong police officer to deal with theimminen t s ituat ion . .. " (p. 118-119)

122


16/42

Som e loopholes and confessions in the above statem ent from the Sheikh 's961-page U rdu autobiography (published in 1986 four years after his death)com pressed by K hushw ant Singh into 17 6 pages m ay be noted. T he Sheikh says thatD r. M ookerjee w as arrested for violating the perm it system of the U nion D efenceM inistry. Then why did he arrest him under Public Safety Act of J& K and kept inS rinagar? T he clue is f ound in the hint that there w as a "nod from the C entre", w hichm eans a clear collaboration. F or, he should have been arrested before entering J& Kor handed back to the U nion G overnm ent after arrest in J& K, if violation of perm itsystem w as his offen ce.

H e says that D r. M ookerjee w as "sick of his solitary confinem ent" w hereas hisadmirer, MJ. A kbar, says D r. M ookerjee w as "an illman" (N ehru -T he M a king o fIndia). The same Akbar alleges (p. 451) that earlier the Supreme Court hada sto nis hin gly , r ele as ed Dr. Mookerjee on technical grounds with the help ofGovernment officials. W hich means it was known that he was not keeping goodhealth and that it w as feared the SC w ould release him again.

The Sheikh further says Prem Nath Dogra was sent to give him com pany indetention. T wo persons V aidya G uru D utt and Shri Te k C han d w ere alread y there .The p ro blem w as no t "so litary co nfin em ent" b ut lack o f prop er fac ilities in keepingw ith his health and need for timely medical aid in that w ilderness where he wasl odged . Mo r eover , P t. Dogra w as brought four days before D r. M ookerjee's deathfo r co nsu ltatio n rega rdin g th e w ith draw al o f t he m ov em en t as so me co mp ro mise w asbeing worked out, and a habeas corpus petition had been filed in J&K H igh C ourt.

In te re stin gly , th e S he ik h ta ke s c re dit fo r Iodgingf ' t , Dog ra w ith D r. Mo ok erje eb ut p as se s on the blam e for keeping him there to B akshi G hulamM uham mad and theC entre. H e feig ns, ig no ran ce o f w hat w as hap pen in g o therw ise . C on tra st w ith th is theroy altreatm en tm eted ou ttoth ean ti-lnd iam afiao fS heikh -B eg &C oin Ku dja il aftertheir dism issal and arrest for anti-India conspiracy. Says the then IB c hie f, B .N .Mullik i n th is context:

"T he leading accused ;like Sheikh A bdullah andA fzal B eg w ere enjoying allthe facilities in the special ja il. T heir fam ilies w ere paid handsom e allow ances; allthe ed uca tion al ex pen ses of th eir son s in college s w ere m et (by th e G overn me nt) an dth ey liv ed lik e N aw ab' s so ns; p riso ners g ot sp ecial d ietin ja il, th eir ro om s w ere fullyfurnished w ith aircoolers in sum mer, there was no restriction on interview s withrela tiv es and frie nd s. T he sp ecial con sid eration the y g ot fro m the G ov ern men t g av ethe m a n ex ag gerated n otion of th eir im po rta nce." (M y Y ea rs W ith N eh ru , P. 94)

T he S heik h is o f c ou rse righ t in po in tin g ou t th at "P t N eh ru an d M au lan a A zad''(it was Home M inister K .N . K atju and not M aulana Azad who cam e later in July)cam e to stay in Srinagar (M ay 16 to 21) but did not bother to m eet D r. M ookerjee.It w as in fact this deliberately callous attitude of P t. N ehru w hich em boldened theSheikh to treat his illustrious prisoner as he liked. In fact, it was alw ays easy to put

123


17/42

Neh ru on t he de fe n si ve w i th t he charg e o f c o l la bor at ing w i th t he " communa li st s" a ndm ak in g h im m o re ru th less as th e S heik h w as d oin g at th at tim e. T he S heik h say se lse wh ere , a s a n a fte rth ou gh t, th at h e w as p la nn in g to h an d b ac k D r. M o ok erje e toN eh ru a fte r th e la tte r's th re e w ee k ja un t (J un e 5 -2 7) a br oa d. H e d id h an d o ve r D r.M o ok erjee b ut a s a d ead m an . A ctu ally , th e J&K H ig h C ou rt w as slated to rele aseD r .Mooke rje e in a d ay o r twowh e n h e s ud d en ly d ie d. T h e r el ea se wa s a ls o e xp ec te dd ue to th e a gre em e nt b ein g w o rk ed o ut b ela te dly a s t h e re su lt o f th e r ev olt b re win gin th e S he ik h's C ab in et a ga in st h im .

T h e Sh ei kh s ay s th at " communa l e lemen ts " d id n ot li ke t he De lh i Ag re eme nt .B u t, a s i s e vi de nt f rom D r . K a ra n S in g h's o bs er va tio n s f rom h is a uto b io g ra ph y TheHe ir A pp ar en t (O x fo rd ) q uo te d in th is a rtic le e ar lie r, th e S he ik h w as r ef usin g toim plem en t so me o f v ital p ro -In dia clau ses o f th e ag ree me nt. N eh ru h im se lf w asg re at ly emba rr as se d a nd wa s f r an ti ca ll y w r it in g t o t he Sh ei kh n ot to emba rr as s h im .B u t h e r efu se d to ta ke th e O p po sitio n le ad er D r. M o ok er je e in to c on fid en ce , w h ileth e P ra ja P ar ish ad le ad er , P rem N ath D o gra 's p er siste nt e ffo rts to se ek in te rv ie wwi th t he S ta te s o r t h e Cen tr al l ea der s we r e rudel y r ebu ff ed . The s ed it iou s Shei kh wa sa pa tr io t in N eh ru 's e ye s w h ile th e p ro -I nd ia p atr io ts o fP P w e re " tr aito rs ".

, In fact, N ehru w as already disenchanted w ith the Sheikh w ho , as B .N .M ullik rep orted to him , w as takin g to F ascist w ays. H e w ould hav e pu shed ou tD ogras from the State if he had not been dism issed. (Ironically, that fa teovertook K ashm iri Pandits due to the thorns sown by Nehru him self andn urtu red b y In dira an d R ajiv afte r h im .) B ut d esp ite S heik h's b ra zen d efian ce,N ehru w as m aintaining a studiedly hard postu re tow ards D r. M ookerjee andP raja Parishad , w hile appeasing A bdullah 's ego all the tim e. It w as nothingsho rt of a b asically F ascist m ake-up of N ehru him self w ho w as d em ocrat on lya s l o ng a s th ere w a s n o c ha lle ng e to h is a uth or ity . A n yw ay , th e fo llow in g e xtr ac tfrom D, Radhakrishnait--A Biography (P ub.: O xford U niversity P ress) b yR adhakrishnan 's erud ite son , D r. S . G opal, w ould m ake it clear how N ehrurefu sed to acc ed e to D r. M o ok erjee' s p lea fo r o ne la st m eetin g an d d elib era telypushed him into Sheikh A bdullah 's Islam ic ghetto though he him self w ass er io u sl y wo rr ie d a t th at time a bo u t t he Sh eik h 's r el en tl es s p us h f or i nd ep en d en ce :

"R ad h ak ri sh n an wa s a ls o o f s er vic e to t he P rime M i ni st er i n i nt er na l p ol it ic s.I n J u ly a nd A u gu st, 1 95 2, h e v is ite d K a shm ir tw ic e to ta lk to S he ik h A b du lla h, w h ot ru st ed h im a s s ec ul ar -m i nd ed , a nd c on v ey ed t o t he P rime M i ni st er Abdu ll ah 's f ea rsa nd h op es . H e a ls o t ri ed to g et t he P rime M i ni st er a nd D r . S y ama P ra sa d Mooke rj ee ,w i thwhom Radhak ri shnan had g r ea te r i nf lu e nc e t han anyone e ls e, t o t al k abou t t he ird if fe re nc es; D r. M o ok er je e w as w illin g, b ut N eh ru d ec lin ed fo r h e h ad be en le d tob elie ve th at th is w ou ld sm ack o f a pp ea se me nt. S o e ven ts m ov ed o n to p erso na ltr ag ed y,w ith D r. M o ok erje e's a rr es t a nd s ud de n d ea th in S rin ag ar a t a tim e w h enb oth N eh ru a nd R ad ha krish na n w e re o ut o fIn dia . F ee lin gs r ose h ig h, e sp ec ia lly inB engal, but R adhakrish nan w as able to get at least one step taken to defuse the

124


18/42

situ atio n. N eh ru , ca ug ht b etw ee n th e ou tra ged e mo tio n o f a sec tio n o f o pin io n a mo ngthe H indus and the drift tow ards secession of A bdullah and his supporters, rem arkedw ith s om e b itte rn es s to R ad ha kr is hn an , Ind ians are n ot c iv ilize d, w hate ve r y ou m aysay . ( Ita li cs a dd ed ).

"R adhakrishnan advised him (N ehru), as a conciliatory gesture, him self tomove the adjournment of the house and pay a tribute to Dr. M ookerjee rather thanle av e an y su ch ac tio n, a s th e C ab in et an d th e C on gress P arlia men tary p arty fav ou red ,to the decision of the presiding officer; and N ehru com plied." (f. 262-63)

"Indians are not civilized," says Nehru above. O f course, only the product ofMoti L al's M u gh al c ou rt w as " civ iliz ed ". I nte re stin gly Jawahar la l d esc rib ed e venLajpat Raias "a very badly educated man", (M J. Akbar, P .188) because he andM alaviya had routed M oti Lal's Swaraj Party in 1926 elections in U P and Punjab.The same Lajpat Rai however, became "the tallest of us all' during the Sim onC ommissio n d ay s.

Radhakrishnan, it m ay be p o i n t e d out, w as beholden to D r. M ookerjee ' s fatherS ir A sh uto sh Mooker jee who as V ice-Chancellor of Calcutta University wasinstrum ental in gi ving R adhakrishnan the m uch-needed break by pulling him out ofM ysore U niversity where he w as stagnating. H earing of R adhakrishnan's flair forphilosophy while passing through South India,. the firm -m inded Sir Ashutoshmanoeuvred his appointm ent to the prestigious George V Chair of Philosophy inC alc utta . T ha t m ar ke d Radhakrishnan's lo ng a sso ciatio n w ith th e D r. M oo kerje e'sfamily.

E levation to Calcutta U niversity paved w ay for Radhakrishnan's quick rise.and fam e abroad. S ir A shutosh w as in fact m uch criticised in B engal for pooling theb est n on -B en gali tale nt also in the U niv ersity . S cie ntist C .V . R am an an d O rien talistB han dark ar, w ho h e tho ug ht w ou ld b rin g h on ou r to B en gal, w ere h is o th er d isc ov eriesw hom h e p atr on is ed .

R adhakrishnan's personal friendship w ith M ookerjee w as deepened w hen thephilosopher w as invited to O xford for U pton L ectures. Says S. G opal, "Of'personalfriends there were few at this time in B ritain. Syama Prasad Mookerjee whomRadhakrishnan had known in Calcutta as the son of Sir Ashutosh, was in Londonreading for the B ar, and though Syam a Prasad was m uch younger in years, they m etfrequently. From this tim e grew a friendship w hich deepened w ith years. (p. 79) .

Radhakrishnan was appreciative of Mookerjee's nationalist stand in thecrucial "Q uit India" days. T his plus his role in "partitioning" Pakistan by relentlesscampaign to divide Punjab and Bengal, which later won him a place in the NehruC abinet. Says S . G opal in this context, "Of the politicians, out of prison, he foundhim self more in sympathy (barring Gandhi) with Syama Prasad M ookerjee eventhough the latter had joined the H indu M ahasabha, than w ith R ajagopalachari, w ho

125


19/42

wa s w i ll in g t o s ac rif ic e n at io na l i nte re st s t o r ea ch a c omp rom is e w it h J in n ah ." (p.183)

R adhakrishnan regre tted the om ission of S yam a Prasad to the S him laConf er en ce o f 1 94 5 , (t ho u gh h e f ig ur ed a t t he C r ip p s M i ss io n p ar le ys ) c on ve ne d b yL or d Wa ve ll to c on su lt I nd ia n le ad er s fo r se ttin g u p a n I nte rim Go ve rnm en t a t th eC en tre . P olitic s is o ne -lo ng s ec on d b est, s aid R ad ha kr is hn an in .a le tte r to N eh ru .Wh i ch me an s th e b es t a re s id el in ed .

In his book Kashm ir-Behind the Vail (V iking), M J. A kbar m akes tw os ig n if ic an t p oi nt s a bo ut t he Sh eik h 's p us h f or f ul l a uto n omy . T h e " Tempo ra ry a ndP ro vi si on al" A r ti cl e 3 7 0 wa s turned o n i ts h ea d i nto P ro vi si on al A c ce ss io n . ( La te r,it w as said there w as no accession at all.) It w as then used to secure-m axim umaut on omy w it hi n t he S ta te . And f in al ly , Abd ull ah i ns is te d t ha t " th er e wa s n o m i dd leli ne b etw ee n f ul l i nt eg ra tio n a nd f ull a ut on omy- e- an d o f c ou rs e K a shm ir h ad to g etthe la tt e r. Autonom y had becom e a code w ord for independence". (p. 151 , I ta l ic sadded)

N eh ru h ad in fac t m ad e th e K ash nir p ro ble m in trac ta ble b y tw o fa tal step s.Firstly, internationalising it b y t a kin g it to th eU NO und er Mount ba tt en ' s a dv ic e a nd ,s ec on d ly , ma ki ng t he S ta te 's a cc es si on d ep en d en ce o n t he wh ims o f j us t o n e ma n-S heik h A bd ullah. H e created all roun d u ncertainty and w as finally him self afru strated m an . H e w as b ro ke n m an b ecau se o f S heik h's d efian t w ay s ev er sin ce1 9 49 , wh en h e g av e in te rv iew s t~ f or ei gn p ap er s, p ed dl in g a n eu tr al l in e b etw ee nIn dia an d P ak istan . H e ev en c on sp ired w ith th e Am eric an s. H e refu se d to ratifyacc essio n w ith In dia in th e first m ee tin g o f th e S ta te 's C on stitu en t A sse mb ly inOc to be r, 1 9 51 . P le bis ci te b ec ame h is tr ump c ar d.

T his w as b ecause N eh ru had m ad e every thing depen dent on his perso nalf ri en ds hi p t ill A b d ul la h h im s el f g av e h im a s ho ck in g l es so n i n d ip lomac y b y w r it in gt o h im th at p er so na l f ri en d sh ip d id n ot c ou n t i n s uc h ma tt er s. A f te r g et tin g Mah ar ajaHan S ingh r emoved, t he She ikh s ta rt ed gunning fo r t he Cen tr e, c al li ng i tc ons erv at i v ean d c ommun al. T ho ug h sp arin g N eh ru , h e said h e w as su rro un de d b y commu nalm e n, a nd th at th ere w as n o h op e f or h im a fte r N e h ru . B u t s oo n h e sta rte d a tta ck in geven Neh ru 's s ec u la r bonaf id e s.

Howev er , h e h im s el f w e nt a bo u t c on ve rt in g Ka shm ir i nt o a c ommun al S ta te .H e sta rte d g u nn in g fo r th e D o gra s, a nd le t lo os e a w a ve o f re pre ss io n to sq ue ez e o utH in du s f rom Jammu. H e b eh av ed a s i fh e h ad " co nq ue re d" Jammu. H e d id n ot sp areeven t he Ka shmi ri Pandi ts . I n h is a u tob iog ra phy A aa tis h- e- C h i na r wr it te n a ft er h issecon d co ming in 19 75, h e has railed ag ain st n ot o nly K ashm iri P an dits but theB r ahm in s o f No rth I nd ia , b y wh ic h h e me an t th eB r a hm i n P rime M i nis te rs l ik eNe h ruan d In dira G an dh i a nd th eir K ashmiri co terie. In h is b oo k, h e v irtu ally d ub s th eK a shm ir i P an dits a s a p erma ne nt fifth c olumn in K a shm ir , sid in g a lw ay s w ith th e

126


20/42

ru lers, b e th ey M ug hals o r P ath an s, S Hills o r th e D og ras. (K hu sh wan t S in gh 'st ra n sl at ion , V iki ng , P . 170 -172 )

Howev er , N e hr u d id n ot b ot he r a bo ut h is c ommuna l r ep re ss io n o n th e p eo pleo f Jammu . P ra ja P arish ad ' s m o veme nt h ad to b e la un ch ed in th e w ak e o f S he ik h'sp er sis te nt a tta ck s o n t he J ammu p eo ple . T h ou sa nd s we re d et ain ed a nd a t le as t th re edo zen k illed in firing s. It w as to defend them that D r. M ookerjee launched aS aty ag ra ha in De lh i a nd d ec id ed to v is it J ammu h ims elf . Howev er , b ef or e le av in gfo r I&K bo rd er in seco nd w eek o f M ay , 1 953 , h e tried ev ery p ersu asiv e m eth od tob rin g r ou nd P t. N eh ru to s ee r eality .

H e en tered in to a pro tracted co rresp on den ce w ith h im , w ritin g to h im sixle tt er s a n d two to Abdu lla h b etwe en J an ua ry 9 a nd F eb ru ar y 2 3 i n 1 95 3. When Ne hr ure fu se d to b ud ge , h e p oin t-b ac k to ld h im , "It is th ro ug h y ou r m istak en p olic y a ndyour failure to understand the view point of those w ho differ from you, that thec ou nt ry is b ei ng b ro ug ht t o th e b ri nk o f d is as te r."

E ar li er , S ar da r P a te l h ad t old B .N . Mu ll ik e ve n in 1 94 9 th at th e She ik h woul dso on c om e o ut in h is " re al c olo ur s". H e d id n ot a gre e w ith Mu llik ' s r ep ort o f " All isw e ll w it h Abdu ll ah ", t ailo re d to Ne hr u's wh ims . P at el h ad e ve n s aid , "We h av e lo stKashmir" . (M y Y ea rs w ith N eh ru , P.16)

S ard ar w as v ery sad at N eh ru 's d isastro us ex perim en ts in secu larism an din te rn atio na lism . B u t h e h ad a lre ad y su ff ere d a h ea rt a tta ck b y th en a nd N eh ru w asto o h ea ds tr on g. I nte re stin gly , N e hr u w r ote to h is s is te r, V ija ya L ak shm i P an dit , o nM a y 1 0,1 95 0, th at "th e mo st d if fic ult th in g in life is w h at to d o w ith o ne 's fr ie nd s".

G iv en h ereu nd er is a g ist of M oo kerjee-N eh ru an d M oo kerjee-A bd ullahco rresp on den ce, referred to ab ov e. N eh ru w as in wardly b ro ken b y that tim e an den tr ea ti ng Shei kh i n ab j ec tl y wo rded l et te rs no t t o embar ra ss a f r ie nd who had t ru st edh im sq c omp le te ly . B u t still h e w as m ain ta in in g a b ra ve fa ce in p ub lic . H is p atie ntb ack w as b ro ken o nly after D r. M oo kerjee's su gg estio n fo r a p erso nal m eetin gbefore leaving for J& K . It w as just to appease the S heikh, as pointed out by D r.R ad ha kr is hn an . T h us th e Ne hr u- Sh ei kh c olla bo ra tio n p us he d D r. Mooke rje e in tow hat tu rned o ut to b e an en em y territory . F or, th at w as h ow th e S heik h ru led o verI& K unde r Neh ru 's p a tr onage .

I n h is f ir st l ett er , D r . Mook er je e u rg ed Ne hr u: " I am w ri tin g t o y ou i n th e h op eth at y ou w ill k ee p a n o p en m in d a nd try to a pp re cia te th e p oin t o f v ie w o f th ose w h omay d if fe r f rom you o n th is ma tte r. I t i s v i ta lly impo rta nt t ha t t he c ir cumst an ce s t ha th av e l ed t o t he p re se nt movemen t s ho uld b e imp ar ti al ly r ev iew ed a nd e ff or t s ho ul db e m ad e to a rriv e a t a sp ee dy a nd p ea ce fu l se ttle me nt w hic h w ill b e fa ir a nd ju st toa l l conce rned ."

Ag ain to Ne hr u: ''Iwould e ar ne st ly u rg e u po n you to c on sid er t he e ff ec t o f th emovemen t o n th e r es t o f In dia . T h e S t ate o fJ ammu a nd Ka shm ir is a p ar t o f th e I nd ia n

127


21/42

U nion and as such it is perfectly open to the people of the rest of India to interestthem selv es in th e affairs of the S tate ... T he p eo ple o f In dia are no t p rep ared to severth eir c on ne ctio n w ith K as hm ir u nd er a ny c irc um sta nc es, p le bisc ite o r n o p le bis cite .

"If th e p eo ple of Jamm u d em and th at the accessio n shou ld be on the sam e lin esas in this case of other States, they do not say anything that is arb itrary ore xtrao rd in ary . T his is th eir n atu ra l w ish a nd th ey a re g uid ed b y p atrio tic a nd n atio nalmo t ive s . ..

" Peo ple w ho a re fa cin g sa crific es a nd su ffe rin g c hee rfu lly , a re n ot e ne mie s o fIndia or of Jam mu and K ashm ir. It is absurd to dub them as friends of Pakistan."

Again, "If you w ant m e to discuss the m atter personally w ith you and SheikhA bdullah , you m ay let m e know and I shall glad ly abide by your w ish ."

D r. M ookerjee o nly w ished to kn ow h ow P and itN eh ru w anted to reassure thep eo ple o f J ammu a nd In dia a bo ut ta ck lin g S he ik h Ab du lla h's b ellig er en ce . H owe ve r,N eh ru rep lied th at P raja P arish ad w as trying to tack le a b asic con stitutio nal issu ethrou gh "m eth od s of w ar". T his w as a blatant bid to cond on e A bdu llah's b ru tal anti-D ogra repression through B ritish-style repression, convert J& K State in to anin depen dent Islam ic S tate an d treat Jamm u as a con qu ered territo ry .

A gain he w rote to N ehru: "O ne com mon feature of your speeches has been anabundance of abuses and vituperation w hich you have poured forth on those w hodiffer w ith you. Y ou have ascribed to us all sorts of m otives and have even dubbedus betrayers of the country's in terests. I have no desire to emulate you in thisrespect.. ."

However, D r. M ookerjee had a very tactfu l way of hitting back whichin fu ria te d N eh ru n o e nd .

R eferrin g to N eh ru 's oft-repeated ch arg e of comm un alism , h e w rote: "T his ism ost unfair charge and ,unconsciously you have been recently indulging in suchattacks only to hide the', w eakness of your case. O ur approach to the problem isactu ated by h igh est n atio nal an d patriotic con sideration s. T he solution that w e areask ing fo r is far fro m comm unal, no r d oes it se ek to d is un ite o r d isin teg ra te In dia . Iw ou ld b eg o f y ou to th in k in y ou r co ol m om en ts h ow in y ou r life 's h isto ry y ou r fa ilu reto stand against M uslim communalism in India has resu lted in disastrousconseq uences ... It is am az ing ho w the m ove of separatism by S heikh A bd ullah andhis co lleag ues is b ein g app lauded by y ou as n ational and patriotic and th e genu inedesire on the part o f P raja P arish ad to secure the fun dam en tal un ity and in tegrity ofIn dia an d to b e g ov ern ed a s c omm on In dia n c itiz en s is b ein g d ub be d a s a tre ac hero usconduct. Y our letter and you speeches give no satisfactory answ er to these basicp oin ts ra ise d b y th e P ra ja P arish ad ."

H ow ev er, P t. N eh ru a ga in d ub be d th e p eac efu l m ov em en t fa cin g th e S heik h's128


22/42

v in di ct iv e i re a nd S ta te r ep re ss io n a s " vio le nt a nd s ub ve rs iv e" . H e t hr ea te ne d t o u se"o th er a nd f urth er s te ps" to c ru sh th e mo vem en t.

R eferring to P t. N eh ru 's pet excu se of internation al co mp lications, D r.Mooker je e wro te : "You wi ll f o rgi v e me i fI f ai l t o a ppr ec ia te you r r epe at ed r ef er enc eto p ossib le in tern atio nal co m plica tio ns as a resu lt o f Jamm u m ov em en t. N o o neto day w ill claim th at y our hand ling of the K ashm ir problem has en han ced ou rin te rn ati on al p re st ig e o r h as won f or u s w i de in te rn ati on al s up p or t o r s ymp at hy . Onth e o t he r h an d yo ur p o li cy in th is b eh al f h as a dd ed t o c omp li ca ti on s b ot h a t h ome a ndab ro ad . S ta tesm an sh ip req uires th at you shou ld exam ine the w hole m atterd is pa ss ionat el y and i ns te a d o fbe i ng haun te d by f al se i nt er n at ional ism , f irm ly c re a tec ond it ion s fo r n a ti ona l s o li da ri ty ba sed on a f ai r a d ju s tmen t o f d if fe re n t v iewpo in tsand interes ts. Ifyou s ucc eed i n t h is , i tw i ll g i v e you g r ea te r s tr eng th andp r e st ig e evenin in te rnat iona l dea lings. "

D r. M o ok er je e c on clu de d th is le tte r w ith a no th er fe rv en t a pp ea l to N eh ru torise ab ov e p artisan sp irit: I o nly w ish to clo se th is co rresp on de nce w ith m y d ee pr eg re t th at "th ou gh w e a re c hild re n o f th e sam e Mo th er, y ou r r ep lie s h av e a p ain fu lr es emb la nc e w it h s im i la r c ommun ic ati on s wh ic h He ad s o f B r iti sh Gov er nme nt i nI nd ia , c arr ie d awa y b y s en se o f p ow er a nd p re stig e, u se d to a dd re ss w h ile r ef usin gt o t a ke n ot e o f t h e ma ni fe st at io n s o f t he w il l o f t he p eo pl e. T h e o nl y d if fe re nc e is t ha tw hile w e d isag ree o n some v ita l m atters, w e a re ch ild ren o f th e sa me M o th er, a ndw ith a little g oo dw ill a nd to le ra nc e o n b oth sid es w e sh ou ld h av e b ee n a ble to a vo ida s er iou s c le a vage. "

" Ev en a t t hi s l a te h o ur ," h e s aid , " a p e ac ef ul s et tlemen t i s p o ss ib le a nd it is y o uwho c an t ak e t he i nit ia tiv e."

P t. N e hr u's r ep ly to th is le tt er ( lO t h F eb ru ar y) w a s d ec ep ti ve ly me ll ow , a s h esaid, "I have no do ubt th at y ou w ish"w en to In dia bu t the fact rem ains that ourconceptions of w hat is w ell for India differ." H ow ever, he w ent on to dub thea gita tio n a s c ommu na l a nd in he re ntly su bv ersiv e. H e re fe rr ed to th e p as t a nd sa idt he ir l iv es ( ofD r .Mook er je e a nd Ne hr u) h av e mov ed la rg ely in d if fe re nt s ph er es . H ea sk ed D r , Mooke rj ee t o e xe rc is e h is i nf lu en ce o n P ra ja P ar is ha d to e nd th e a gi ta ti onin J ammu.

I n r ep ly , D r . Mooke rj ee s ug ge ste d a c on cr et e p ro ce du re f or s et tl in g t he i ss uean d u rg ed th at th e S heik h an d N eh ru m ee t P ra ja P arish ad le ad ers, p refera bly inD e lh i, w ith a n "o pe n m in d to a rriv e a t d ec is io ns th at w o uld m e et th eir le gitim a ted em a nd s. T he mo vem en t m a y b e su sp en de d if su ch a n o ffe r is c ommu nic ate d to P Plead ers". S om e o th er C en tral le ad ers w ere in fav ou r o f it. B ut S heik h A bd ullahs eem ed to s to newa ll th e p ro po sa l. S o in a n on -c omm itta l r ep ly . P an dit N e hru to oksh elte r u nd er th e p le a o f au to nomy o f th e J&K S ta te G ov ern m en t w hic h alo ne , h es ai d, c ou ld s et tl e t h e p rob lem . However , Neh ru wan te d t he ag it at ion t obe w i thd rawnfirst, fo llow ed b y "a n a ttem pt o n a ll sid es to b rin g a bo ut n orm ality a nd g oo dw ill" .

129


23/42

Obv iou sl y r ea li si ng t ha t She ikh Abdu ll ah wa s exer ci si ng h is v e to f rom behindth e s ce ne s, D r . Mooke rj ee w r ote to Sh ei kh Abdu ll ah o n 1 3 th F e b ru ar y, a pp ea li ng toh im n ot to d rag in th e so -c alled "c omm un al" actio n o f P ra ja P arish ad in th e p astb ec au se " it w o uld n ot b e sa fe to b ase o ne 's p re se nt a ttitu de tow ar ds g ra ve p olitic alp ro blem s so le ly o n p ast relatio nsh ip w ith o ne's o pp on en ts" an d ad ded , "1 d o n otk now in tim a te ly a bo ut y ou r p as t, b ut I h av e se en som e p ap er s a nd d oc um e nts . Y o uyourself started as a leader of a com munal party. A nd yet, it w ould be highlyimpr op er to ju d ge y o ur p re se nt a im s b y ma ki ng e la bo ra te r es ea rc he s in to y ou r p as th is to ry s ta rt ing f rom Al ig a rh ."

D r .Mook er je e to ld h im I nd ia h ad u n fo rtu n at el y b ee n t or n i nt o two by th e two -n atio n th eo ry . " Yo u a re n ow d ev elo pin g a th re e-n atio n th eo ry , th e th ir d b ein g th eK a shm iri n atio n. T he se a re d an ge ro us s ymp tom s a nd a re n ot g oo d f or y ou r S ta te ."

A p ro ph etic w arn in g in de ed . A s la te r e ve nts sh ow e d, a ll th e tim e P t. N eh ruwa s c on v in ce d a bo ut t h e Sh ei kh 's d iv is iv e a nd d es po ti c a pp ro ac h. H e wa s p ri va te lyw ritin g to h im n ot to le t h im d ow n in th e e ye s o f th e p eo ple o f In dia . T en y ea rs a fte rthe S heik h's dism issal, N eh ru h ad b urst ou t at a sub-comm ittee m eeting o f theC ab in et co nfessin g th at th e S heik h h ad b ee n commu nal a ll alo ng . H e w an ted th et re as on t ri al a ga in st t he Sh ei kh to b e e xp ed ite d, a s B .N . Mu lli ck , t he th en D i re ct oro f In te ll ig e nc e Bu reau r eco rd s i n h is book My Yea rs w ith N e hr u. (p. 103) Moreove r,an em inent researcher, H ori Lal S axena in his book T he T ragedy of K ashm irp ub lish ed in 1 97 4, h as p ro vid ed d ocum en tary ev id en ce o f h ow th e S he ik h w as inlea gu e w ith th e B ritish an d th e A hm ed iy a le ad ers o f P un jab to c rea te c omm un ald is tu rb an ce s in K a shm ir f or p ut tin g t he Mah ar aja o n t he d ef en siv e a nd r ep la ce h ima s a n in d ep en de nt r ul er .

On 1 2 th F eb ru ar y, D r .M ooke rje e w r ot e t o Ne hr u a ga in , implo ri ng h im t ha t h eand Abdu ll ah s hou ld ag re e t om eet t he PP l eader s, f o ll owed by immed ia te s u spens iono f th e mov eme nt . " B oth o f y o u s ho ul d a gr ee t o me et s ome s el ec te d r ep re se nt ati ve so f P raja P arish ad an d th is sh ou ld b e fo llo we d b y an imm ed ia te su sp en sio n o f th emov eme nt . T h e p ro ce ss o f b ri ng in g a bo ut n ormali ty a nd g oo dw il l, 1 t ru st, w il l th ena utom atic ally f ollow . I f th eir v ie wp oin ts a re m e t in a fa ir a nd ju st m a nn er, th er e isn o r ea so n why t he y s ho ul d n ot r ec ip ro ca te ."

P and it N ehru had said that n o p ublic declara tion could be m ade about thefin ality o f accession of J& K because of the talks then going on in G enev a. D r.M o ok erje e sa id in r ep ly h e w o uld a sk P P le ad ers n ot to p re ss fo r a d ec la ra tio n n ow .B u t t he n h e a ls o t ol dP a nd itN e hr u, " R ea ll y s pe ak in g a cc es si on wa s n ot th e is su e o nw h ic h w e w en t to th e UNO ." Wh ic h m e an s P an dit N eh ru w a s h im s elf c omp lic atin gth e issu e b y c on fu sin g it.

R egardi ng appl ic a bi li ty o f t he Indi an Const it ut ion t o J&K , Dr . Mooker je e s ai dsom e su bjects could be applied imm ediately , w hile discussion w ith the S tateG o ve rnm en t c ou ld g o o n f or th e re st.

130


24/42

At the end, he said he could personally come and m eet Nehru that eveningbetw een 6 and 7 .30 p .m. b efo re go ing to C alcu tta nex t m ornin g or after co ming bac kin a couple of days.

Such a personal m eeting was denied as Nehru replied that he had not seen theletter till late at n ig ht. H e d id n ot su ggest eve n a m eetin g after D r. M oo kerje e' s returnfrom C alcutta. Thus the Sheikh effectively torpedoed any m eeting, even thoughthere w as som e com mon ground. N ehru insisted on withdraw al of the agitation as afirst step. D r. M ookerjeewanted this to be done after an agreement on basics in am eeting of the tw o sides, though the im plem entation could be delayed.

D r. M ookerjee again w rote to N ehru on 17 th F ebruary that the latter should getout of the m ental approach of hurling abstract and im aginary charges unrelated tospecific m atters against Praja Parishad m ovem ent and that an approach should bem ade to PP leaders then injail. H e again fram ed a ten-point approach to various J& Kproblem for a w ay out. There w as no reply to it from N ehru w hile A bdullah dubbedPP leadership as "avow edly disruptive and com munal in its aim and purpose", andh en ce d en ie d "an y m eetin g g rou nd".

A bd ullah h ad thu s tak en effectiv e ch arge ofN eh ru as w ell. N ow D r. M oo kerje erealised that his sw eet reasonableness w as falling on a closed m ind and stony heart.B ut not to be deterred, he again w rote to A bdullah on 23rd February, detailing theconstitutional position of the State vis-a-vis India , as also of Sheikh A bdullah vis-a-vis the M aharaja as it had developed since the S tate's accession and warned himof the dangers inherent in the path he was follow ing. Charging the Sheikh w ithfollow ing a Fascist course tow ards Praja Parishad, he said he could not succeed init.

Pt. N ehru w as obviously ill-inform ed about the m ass-base of the m ovem ent.He was unnerved when Dr. M ookerjee decided to proceed to K ashm ir himself tostudy the situation even by violating the pem iit system . D r. M ookerjee had alreadybeen arrested in support of the m ovem ent in D elhi but released unexpectedly by theSuprem e Court. So Nehru conspired with Abdullah to arrest him on the State'sterritory. T hat w as to put him beyond the jurisdiction of the Suprem e C ourt.

Even in K ashm ir the H igh Court was likely to release him as the dom inantN ational C onference faction under B akshi G hulam M uham mad w as preparing tooverthrow the Sheikh w ho w as crossing all lim its of m egalom ania and anti-Indiaphobia . But the Sheikh-Nehru axis succeeded in snuffing out his life by sheercallousness and indifference to his health conditions. It w as the handiw ork of tw oinflated egos. B oth had vested interest in the premature death of M ookerjee . Inre fu sin g to ta lk e ve n, b oth b etra ye d a F as cis t-m en ta lity .

Even the m chief B .N . M ullik described A bdullah as following a Fascistcourse in a report to N ehru and N ehru agreed, he says. B ut still N ehru took shelter

1 3 1


25/42

under t he p re te xt o f t h e aut onomy o f J&K Sta te t op l ea d i nabi li ty t o r e dr es s t he b ra zenw ro ng s. Howe ve r, N e hr u's a pp ro ac h to th e p r ob lem was n o l es s F asc is t. H e st uc k tohis gun s even w hen in fluential p olitical circles in N ew D elh i, includ ing V ice-P re si de nt, D r. R ad ha kr is hn an , J .P . a nd some MPs lik e Sm t. S uc he ta K r ip la ni w er ee xe rtin g p re ss ur eo n h im t o t alk to D r. Mook er je e o r P ra ja Pa ris ha d le ad er s f or a wayto end t he agi ta ti on . Bu t Nehru f ai le d to r is e a bove h is n ar row communal p re jud ic es .So Dr. M ookerjee wrote to him , "Apparently, you are not even in a mood tound erstand the view s of tho se w ho differ from y ou , far less talk to them . I am su rein y ou c oo le r momen ts y ou you rs elf w ill r eg re t th at y ou c ou ld n ot r ep ly to a rg ume nt sw it h a rgumen ts , bu t h ad on ly c as t mo ti ve s a nd a sper si on s aga in st t ho se who d if fe re df rom your o ff ic ia l po li cy ."

Re fe rr ing t o Pandit Neh ru 's w ar ni ng a bo ut h is Gove rnmen t ta kin g " oth er a ndfur th er s te ps wh ic h appar en tl y mean t f ur th er r ep re ss ion ," D r .M ooke rj ee wrot e: "L etm e assu re you w e are read y to face the co nseq uences o f yo ur w rath and fu ry . T hearrest o f a numb er of ou r w orkers in the P un jab yesterd ay un der th e P reventiv eD etention A ct is an 'ind icatio n o f the th ing s that are to come. It reflects a stragef un ctio nin g o f d emo cr ac y in o ur c ou ntr y wh er e P re ve ntiv e Dete nt io n h as to b e ma deu se o f f or c ur bin g le git ima te p olitic al o pp os ito nn ." (Ba lr aj Ma dh ok in P ortrait o f AMartyr , Jaico, P . 2 06 )

I t is p er ti ne nt to n ote th at th e Sh ei kh h ad ma de h is in famou s R an bi r S in gh Pur asp eec h o n A pril 1 0, 1 95 2, w he n G op alasw amy A iy an ge r, th e M in iste r o f K ashmirA f fa ir s, " at tempt ed t o ex te nd t he j ur is di ct ion o f t h e Comp trol le r a nd Aud it or Gene ra lo f India to Kashmir". The She ik h d es cr ib ed a cc es sio n a s o f a r es tr ic te d n atu re . H econdemned Ind ia i ngene ra l a nd Ind ia n P r es s i npa rt ic ul ar f or c ri ti ci si ng h is s epar at is tline.

H e r eje cte d fu ll a pp lic ati on o f th e o rig in al a cc ess io n d oc ume nt s ig ne d b y th eMaha ra ja , a cc ed in g to I nd ia o nly f or th re e s ub je cts . H e f or go t th e se a- ch an ge in th es ta tu s o f a ll th e I nd ia n S ta te s o n s im ila r a cc es sio n te rm s, a fte r t he p as sa ge o f th e n ewIn dia n C on stitu tio n. A ll h ad fu lly in te gra te d in to th e U n io n o fIn dia u nd er it, n on ew as a llowe d to h av e a se pa rate C on stitu tio n ex cep t J &K . A nd it w as u nd er th is n ewC on stitu tio n th at A rticle 3 70 w as g ran ted to J&K , w hich th e S he ik h m ad e a p re tex tt o e xt ra ct s emi -i ndependen t s ta tu s.

D r. M ookerjee w as in fact planning to take up the issue of killings of EastB e ng al H in du s i n r ig ht e ar ne st wh en t he PP movemen t in te rv en ed . H e h ad r es ig ne dfro m N ehru 's C abin et in A pril 19 50 o n th is issu e. B ut by then S heikh 's w ar on th eH in du s o f J ammu h ad c ro ss ed a ll lim its . H is f ailu re to p er su ad e th e P rime M in is te rto m ee t th e P P le ad re s co nv in ce d h im th at N eh ru w as to o a rro ga nt a nd p uffe d u p toa cc ep t th e p ro fe rred h an d o f rec on cilia tio n. D r. M o ok erje e w as th us d riv en b y th ec ir cumst an ce s mu ch a ga in st h is w ish to th e p ath o f S aty ag ra ha , a s t he o nly me an s o fm ak in g th e d emoc ra tic g ov ernme nt to d o an yth in g in th e m atter.

132


26/42

Thus , b ef or e h e c ou ld d o s ome th in g f ur th er o n E as t B e ng al, o ve r wh ic h h e h adforged a pow erful O pposition front, he had to throw him self com pletely in theK ashm ir m ovem ent. B ut he w as never oblivious of E ast B engal H indus' plightl ea di ng t o huge exodus . In h is p re sid en tia l a dd re ss t o t he f ir st a nn ua l s es sio n o f t heJ an a S an gh a t K an pu r in D ec emb er, 1 95 2, h e d re w sp ec ific a tte ntio n to p ro ble

Documents

Nehru Abdullah Collaboration