Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee: A Saviour of Assam & Protector of Hindus

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Amongst the galaxy of freedom fighters, if there is one great fighter we should be thankful to for being part of India, it is Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. He shines as a big star. This man's foresight and fight helped Assam to remain in India. Assam was a group-C state and was supposed to be a part of East Pakistan during Partition. Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was a life saviour of the people of our State. His role in saving Assam from Pakistan is on record everywhere, in India and abroad. He saved Assam from being a part of Pakistan when he fought tooth and nail to retain Assam in India and not be included in the partitioned part given to undivided Pakistan.

Great freedom fighter Pushpalata Das said that Assam could not have been saved from being merged with East Pakistan by Gopinath Bordoloi alone if Dr Mukherjee had not actively voiced out, strategized and fought for retaining Assam in India. Dr Mukherjee also provided adequate security to persecuted Bengalis till he was alive.

If we are happily living a secured peaceful life in Assam today, we should be thankful and grateful to him. Else we would have been on the other side of borders and be only 8.5% of the surviving Hindu population instead of 79.8% of India; or worse, part of the 28% of the Hindu population of Bangladesh that no longer exists. Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee travelled to several parts of Assam. He stayed here and experienced Assamese lifestyle and worked for the unity of Assam. He advocated for Assamese language to be the official language of the state. Such was his love and affection for Assamese language that he wanted to promote it extensively and made efforts towards it.

As soon as he became VC of Calcutta University in 1935, he introduced the Assamese language. He wanted that people of India should appreciate and learn the Assamese language so as to know about the history of Assam, the state's great and brave kings, have a sense of the past, community lifestyle, cuisine, traditional industry, economics, art culture, the contribution of Assam and the Assamese people towards our freedom struggle. He selected Birinchi Kumar Baru as the first Assamese to teach Assamese language at the Calcutta University.

At the same time, he urged every citizen of Assam, whichever region, religion, community they came from, to learn the Assamese language and experience and feel the beauty of the language just as he did. He knew that more assimilation and affinity can be developed by knowing the language and learning to speak the language. Speaking of the Assamese language by all communities of Assam would create more positive attitudes, bonding and less prejudice toward people; and definitely strengthen relationships.

Very few know about his towering personality. Apart from being one of the founding fathers of independent sovereign India, a· great patriot, educationist, parliamentarian, statesman, humanitarian and above all a campaigner for national unity and integrity, he was also an exceptionally intelligent, meritorious student and a politician per excellence with top positions and ranking and has many firsts to his credit. Born on 6 July, 1901 in Calcutta, he became a legend in his life time. He was the youngest-ever Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University, being only 33years when he joined.

l He was the first to introduce Indian vernacular language as a subject for the highest examination in Calcutta University when it was dominated by English alone

l He secured the First Class 1st position in his graduation in 1921.

l Although he secured a First Class 1st degree in English in his graduation, but the nationalist in him never allowed him to take up English for MA. He, therefore, took Bengali and one another Indian language instead of English for his MA, which also he passed with a First Class degree in 1923.

l He passed his BL, once again standing first in the University.

l During Mukherjee's term as Vice-Chancellor, Rabindranath Tagore delivered the university convocation address in Bengali for the first time.

l He was also an entrepreneur and started his own daily newspaper from Calcutta called The Nationalist.

l He was Independent India's first Minister of Industry and Supply.

As Minister for Industries and Supplies in the Union Cabinet, he laid the firm foundation of the industrial development of the country by setting up the three most successful gigantic industrial undertakings, viz. the Chitranjan Locomotive Factory, the Sindhri Fertilizer Corporation and the Hindustan Aircrafts Factory, Bangalore. In the four years of the pilotage of the crucial ministry, he did not attract one barb of criticism - so free from blemish was his performance.

He was righteous and always fought for the rights, security and equality of the citizen of India, especially protecting the rights of Hindus. He had great foresight of the future and how to keep a nation united and strong. He was strongly against the Partition of India. He considered it a very dangerous and disquieting development and fought tooth and nail for a united India.

l Dr.Mookerjee bent his energies to save the Hindu majority parts of Punjab and Bengal. He organized a countrywide campaign against the partition of the motherland and thus, it was due to his efforts that half of Punjab and half of Bengal was saved for India.

l He opposed the Nehru-Liaqat Pact of 1950 and not able to prevent that pact being signed, he left the Cabinet of then Congress government, yet forced amendment in the first original draft of the Agreement, which committed the Government of India towards reservation of seats for Muslims in legislatures and services, was modified to eliminate these provisions.

l After leaving the Congress, Dr Shyama Prasad returned to the first Lok Sabha in the first general elections held in 1952 under his newly-launched party, the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, and in spite of having only 2 members he stood head and shoulders above all others.

l He gave the famous clarion call— "Ek desh mein do Vidhan, do Nishan nahin chalenge, nahin chalenge (Two Constitutions and two flags in one country are not acceptable)".

l He strongly opposed Article 370 and fought for it. He also launched the first satyagraha on the issue in the post-Independence era, which attracted a huge number of people, for which he was arrested and which followed by his medical murder, his death.

He was a great humanitarian and his role during Bengal Famine and his untiring effort to save lives can never be forgotten. Dr Mukherjee was a true son of mother India, a true nationalist and patriot. His principles and thoughts were beyond any personal ambition. He always thought for India, lived for India and finally died for India. Very soon his dream of unfurling the tricolour in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) will be a reality.