Prime Minister Narendra Modi today remembered Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his death anniversary and said that every Indian is indebted to him for his unparalleled efforts towards furthering India's unity.
PM Modi said that SP Mookerjee worked hard for India's progress and dreamt of a strong and prosperous nation.
"Remembering Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his Punya Tithi. Every Indian is indebted to him for his unparalleled efforts towards furthering India's unity. He worked hard for India's progress and dreamt of a strong and prosperous nation. We are committed to fulfilling his dreams," the Prime Minister said in a tweet.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah also paid tributes to Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his death anniversary and said that every Indian is indebted for his supreme sacrifice in the struggle to protect Bengal and to keep Kashmir an integral part of India.
In a series of tweets, Mr Shah paying tributes to him said, "Dr Shyama Prasad Mookerjee's life was a wonderful amalgamation of new ideas of national unity, cultural dedication, education and development. Every Indian is indebted for his supreme sacrifice for the struggle to protect Bengal and to keep Kashmir an integral part of India."
Mr Shah further said, "His political opponents also considered that he was a strong political leader. He knew that it won't be possible to solve the problems of the country with the ideas and policies of the government of that time. That is why he chose the complicated path of long struggle renouncing the pleasure of power in the interest of the nation."
He said that SP Mookerjee believed that the bright future of a nation is possible only on the strong foundation of its own native culture and thinking.
"That is why he put a scientific approach of cultural nationalism and alternative political thinking in front of the country. Today his same thoughts are taking the country forward in every field," he added.
Syama Prasad Mookerjee was the founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh and also served as the Minister for Industry and Supply in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet.
Bharatiya Jana Sangh, founded in 1951, is the ideological parent organisation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
According to the BJP's official website, on the issue of the Delhi pact with Likayat Ali Khan, Mookerjee resigned from the Cabinet on April 6, 1950. Later on October 21, 1951, Mookerjee founded Bharatiya Jana Sangh in Delhi and became its first President.
SP Mookerjee went to visit Kashmir in 1953 and was arrested on May 11. He died as "detenu" on June 23, 1953.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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