Dr. Mookherjee’s efforts saved Bengal and Punjab, his legacy unified the Nation: Tarun Chugh

• BJP pays glowing tributes to Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookherjee on his birth anniversary

JAMMU: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Jammu & Kashmir paid rich floral tributes to its ideologue and nationalist stalwart, Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookherjee, on his birth anniversary. Tribute programmes were held at the mandal level across the Jammu & Kashmir by BJP leaders, party cadre, and supporters to honour the life and legacy of the great patriot.

BJP National General Secretary & J&K BJP Prabhari Tarun Chugh, J&K BJP President Sat Sharma, BJP National Secretary & MLA Dr. Narinder Singh, former Dy. CM Kavinder Gupta, General Secretary Adv. Vibodh Gupta, former Minister Priya Sethi, former Dy Mayor Baldev Singh Billawaria, Ayodhya Gupta, Brig Anil Gupta, Tilak Raj Gupta, Dr. Pardeep Mahotra, Arun Prabhat, Prof Kulbhushan Mohtra, Sanjay Baru, Rekha Mahajan, Ankush Gupta, Shailja Gupta, and other party leaders paid their tributes to the great ideologue, at party headquarter, Trikuta Nagar in a programme organized by BJP District Jammu South.

Speaking on the occasion, Tarun Chugh hailed Dr. Mookherjee as a committed nationalist and visionary who selflessly dedicated his life to the service of the nation. He highlighted Dr. Mookherjee's pivotal role during the partition in protecting vast regions of Bengal and Punjab and saving countless. He said that Dr. Mookherjee’s remarkable academic and political achievements at a young age, including his tenure as Vice-Chancellor and his presence in India’s first cabinet.

Chugh recalled Dr. Mookherjee’s strong objections to the Nehru-Liaquat Pact and his warnings about the safety of minorities in Pakistan, where their population drastically declined over the decades. “Had Nehru acted wisely, innumerable lives of minorities could have been saved,” he remarked. He also drew parallels between the ideological stance of Dr. Mookherjee and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, both of whom resigned from Nehru’s cabinet due to their dissatisfaction with his policies.

J&K BJP President Sat Sharma emphasized Dr. Mookherjee’s unmatched contribution to national integration. He underlined that it was due to his fierce opposition to the discriminatory "Do Nishan, Do Vidhan, Do Pradhan" policy that India eventually saw the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35(A). “It is under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Dr. Mookherjee’s dream of one Constitution, one Flag, and one Head of State has finally been realized,” Sharma said.

Dr. Narinder Singh remembered the circumstances of Dr. Mookherjee’s arrest by Sheikh Abdullah on May 11, 1953, when he entered Jammu and Kashmir without a permit in protest against the special status granted to the state. He was imprisoned in Srinagar, where he died under mysterious circumstances on June 23, 1953.