Shyama Prasad Mukherjee: Remembering 'party inspiration' on Jayanti, Modi, Shah pay tributes

"His contribution to national unity and integrity will always be remembered," said PM Modi in a tweet, along with a video depicting the life of Mukherjee, who he described as a 'great scholar and eminent nationalist thinker'.

महान शिक्षाविद् और प्रखर राष्ट्रवादी विचारक डॉ. श्यामा प्रसाद मुखर्जी को उनकी जयंती पर शत-शत नमन। राष्ट्रीय एकता और अखंडता के लिए उनके योगदान को हमेशा याद किया जाएगा। pic.twitter.com/uFpsJtTpYI

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 6, 2019

He also informed in a series of tweets about his plans to join a membership drive for the BJP at Kashi to mark the Jayanti of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, an 'inspiration' to the party.

He also said that he will address the programme at Kashi at 11:30 AM.

Home Minister and BJP president Amit Shah also remembered Mukherjee on his 100th birth anniversary and tweeted, "Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee is a unique symbol of patriotism, sacrifice, and dedication."

डॉ.श्यामा प्रसाद मुखर्जी राष्ट्रभक्ति, त्याग और समर्पण के अद्वितीय प्रतीक हैं। उनका पूरा जीवन भारत की एकता और अखंडता के लिए समर्पित रहा। कश्मीर से परमिट राज समाप्त करने और उसे भारत का अभिन्न अंग बनाये रखने के लिये उन्होंने अपने प्राणों की आहुति दे दी।
ऐसे महान राष्ट्र नायक को नमन pic.twitter.com/xTGHgh37Xb

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) July 6, 2019

He also added by saying that Shyama Prasad's whole life was devoted to the unity and integrity of India. Referring to Mukherjee's lifelong opposition to Article 370 in the state of Jammu & Kashmir, Shah said that the Jana Sangh founder had laid down his life in order to abolish the permit rule from Kashmir and "to make it an integral part of India." 

Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was born into a remarkable family in Bengal. His father was the exalted Bengali academic and barrister Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee and his mother, Jogmaya Devi, a notable woman scholar of the times.

An accomplished lawyer himself, Shyama Prasad went on to establish the Bharatiya Jana Sangh after independence after consultation with MS Golwalkar of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), with the objective of culturally uniting all the Hindus, and charging them with political and nationalistic fervour.

The Bharatiya Jana Sangh later merged with other non-Congress parties to form the Janata Party, which later became the present-day BJP. 

Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, who also served as Cabinet Minister between 1951 and 1952, was also a lifelong opponent to Section 370 that provides autonomous status to Jammu & Kashmir.

He believed that the article was acting as a deterrent for cultural unification of the country and that it was harmful to the country's integrity, as explained by him in a letter he wrote to Jawaharlal Nehru in 1953. He famously said, "Ek desh mein do vidhan, do pradhan aur do nishan nahi chalenge" (In one country, two different sets of legislature, executive, and judiciary cannot function).

Shyama Prasad Mukherjee also gave his life while trying to protest this. That citizens of India would have to carry ID cards while in a part of the country was something that he thought unfair. To protest this 'unfair' permit system, he went to Jammu & Kashmir, from where he was arrested for illegal intrusion.

He died a detainee on June 23, 1953, at the age of 51.