SyamaPrasadMookerjeeBiography

SyamaPrasadMookerjeewasan Indianpoliticianwho foundedthe Bharatiya Jana Sangh party. This biography of SyamaPrasad Mookerjee provides detailed information about hischildhood,life,achievements,works&timeline.

QuickFacts

Nationality Indian

Bornon 06July1901AD

ZodiacSign Cancer

Bornin Calcutta,India

Diedon 23June1953AD

Father SirAshutoshMukherjee

Mother LadyJogamayaDeviMukherjee

Spouse: SudhaDevi

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The man who founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), thepredecessor of the modern day Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee was a fearless and outspokenIndian politician who was very expressive about his thoughtsandwhathebelieved tobecorrect.HeservedasaMinister forIndustry and Supply in the then Prime Minister JawaharlalNehru’scabinetbutresignedfromthecabinet inprotestagainstthe 1950 pact between Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan PrimeMinister Liaquat Ali. The pact proposed to establish minoritycommissionsandguaranteeminorityrightsinbothcountries.Hefelttheneedforanew,moredemocraticpartyandthusfoundedthe Bharatiya Jana Sangh party. He was a staunch Hindu—though by no means anti-Muslim—and is considered theGodfather of modern Hindu nationalism. He was born into aneminent familywherehis fatherheldaveryhighposition in theIndianjurisdiction.Abrilliantstudent,hegraduatedatthetopofhisclass inEnglishandwenton topursuea legalcareer inhisfather’s footsteps. He went to England to study to become abarristerthoughheplungedheadonintopoliticsonhisreturntoIndia.

Childhood&Early LifeHewasborn intoaneminentBengali family inCalcutta toJogamaya Devi and Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee. His fatherwas a judge of the High Court of Judicature at FortWilliam and also served as the Vice-Chancellor of theUniversityofCalcutta.

He attended Mitra Institution in Bhawanipore from wherehepassedhisMatriculationexaminationin1917.Afterthathe enrolled at the Presidency College, Calcutta fromwhere he passed B.A. in 1921 with first class first inEnglishHonors.

His father wanted him son to get his education in thevernacular language and thus Syama Prasad waspersuaded byAshutosh to take upBengali Language andLiteraturefromCalcuttaUniversity.HecompletedhisM.A.in1923.

CareerSyama Prasad was elected a Fellow of the CalcuttaUniversityat theageof23after theuntimelydeathofhisfather. He occupied the Syndicate of the CalcuttaUniversitywhichthedeathofhisfatherhadleftvacant.

He left forEngland in 1926where he joined Lincoln’s Innto study for the Bar. There he represented CalcuttaUniversity at theConference ofUniversities of theBritishEmpire.

He joined the legalprofession in1927 firstasaVakilandthenasamemberof theEnglishBar.However,more thanbeingalawyer,nowhisheartwassetmoreintopoliticsashewantedtodosomethingforhiscountry.

His entry into the world of politics was a very quiet one.Heentered theBengal LegislativeCouncil asaCongresscandidate representing Calcutta University in 1929. Heresigned from the Council the very next year but was re-electedasanindependentcandidate.

In 1934 he was appointed the Vice Chancellor of theUniversityofCalcutta,apostheheld till1938.At theageof 33 he was the youngest ever Vice Chancellor of theUniversity but his young age never deterred him fromdoing the best he could for the upliftment of the massesthroughtheservicesoftheUniversity.

He joined the Progressive Coalition Ministry headed byFazlul Haq as a Finance Minister of Bengal fromNovember1941toDecember1942whentheKrishakPrajaParty-MuslimLeaguewasinpower.However,hesoonquitandbecameaspokespersonfortheHindusandjoinedtheHinduMahasabha.

Even though Mookerjee was not opposed to Muslims, hewanted to protect Hindus from the communal propagandaof the Muslim League. He only wanted people of allreligions to peacefully coexist with each other though hisviews were strongly shaken by the Noakhali genocide inEast Bengal where Muslim mobs cruelly massacred

Hindus.

After India became independent, the newly appointedPrimeMinister JawaharlalNehrumadeSyamaPrasad theMinister for Industry and Supply in the Interim CentralGovernment.However,hehad falloutwithNehruover theNehru-Liaquat Ali Pact and resigned from the cabinet in1950.

After resigning from the Indian National Congress heconsulted Golwalkar of the Rashtriya SwayamsevakSangh (RSS) on whose advice he formed the BharatiyaJanaSangh (BJS)on21October,1951,andalsobecameits first president. TheBJSwas ideologically close to theRSS.

TheBJSwas the founderof theHindutvaagendaand theparty favored a uniform civil code governing the legalmatters for both Hindus and Muslims. The party alsowanted to ban cow slaughter and the end the specialstatusgiven to thestateofJammuandKashmirunder thearticle370.

UnderthespecialstatusgiventoJammuandKashmir,thestate had its own constitution, flag and primeminister. Inthose days, no one could enter Kashmir without thepermission of its prime minister. Dr. Syama PrasadMookerjee was of the view that a single country can’thave twoconstitutions, twoprimeministersand two flags.In 1953, to protest against the special status given toKashmir he tried to enter Kashmir without seekingpermission and was arrested. He died in mysteriouscircumstancesduringdetention.

MajorWorksHe founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), an IndianNationalistparty in1951with theRashtriyaSwayamsevakSanghasitspoliticalarm.Thepartyexistedtill1977afterwhich itwasmergedwithseveralotherparties to formtheJanataParty.After the fall of Janata Party government in1980, the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh formed a new

partycalledBharatiyaJanataParty(BJP)on6April1980.

PersonalLife &LegacyIn 1922 he married Sudha Devi, daughter of Dr.Benimadhav Chakravarty. The couple had been happilymarried for 11 years and was blessed with five childrenwhen tragedystruck.Hisyoungestchilddiedofan illnessand soon his wife too died.Mookerjee was left shatteredbytheuntimelydeathofhis lifepartnerandnevermarriedagain. His sister-in-law helped to raise his survivingchildren.

In1953, toprotest against the special statusgiven to thestate of Jammu & Kashmir, he tried to enter the state,where hewas arrested and jailed in a dilapidated house.He fell ill there and was administered penicillin eventhough he was allergic to the drug. Mookerjee diedmysteriouslyduringthetripandnoinquiriesweremadetoascertaintheactualcause.