By Bal Raj Madhok KASHMIR SENTINEL JUNE 16- JULY 31, 1999

Syama Prasad Mookerjee was one of the most distinguished scholars and parliamentarians born in India. The most glorious period of his crowded life began on April 8, 1950, when he resigned from the Union Cabinet on a policy issue relating to Pakistan. He was the first Cabinet Minister of free India to resign on a matter of policy. He, thus, acted in the best traditions of parliamentary democracy and set an example for others to follow.

After his resignation, he set about forming a nationalist and Rightist alternative to the ruling Congress, which was being converted into a Leftist party by Pandit Nehru after the demise of Sardar Patel. The Bharatya Jana Sangh, which came into existence on October 21, 1951, under Dr. Mokkerjee's leadership, was a concrete result of his efforts. It was his greatest gift to the country. Dr. Mookerjee was elected to the first Lok Sabha as a Jana Sangh candidate from south Calcutta. Within a month of his election, he brought together the Jana Sangh, , the Hindu Mahasabha, the Ram Rajya Parishad, the Ganatantra Parishad and some Independent members of the Lok Sabha on the basis of a common program to form a National Democratic Party. This was the first attempt at polarization of political forces in the country on an ideological basis. As a leader of NDP, which was the largest party in the Opposition, Dr Mookerjee made his mark as an effective leader and a potential alternative to Pandit Nehru.

Being an intellectual giant with vast administrative experience and grasp of parliamentary nuances, he became a terror for the treasury benches. He had a specific point of view on all national and international issues. But the issues on which he concentrated most were those pertaining to the integration of Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of India, the fate of the Hindus left behind in Pakistan, and the plight of Hindu refugees. He devoted the last 15 months of his life to the task of integrating Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country. Sheikh Abdullah's separatist policies and the resentment they created among the people of Jammu and Ladakh in particular, and all nationalists in general, impelled him to give priority to Kashmir. His approach to the Kashmir issue and the efforts made by him for a national and rational solution need to be recalled because the situation in Kashmir today has become even more explosive than it was in 1952.

It was the Kashmir issue, which first brought me in touch with Dr. Mookerjee in 1948 after my externment from Jammu and Kashmir by the Abdullah government for my role as general secretary of the Jammu and Kashmir Praja Parishad. Earlier, I had received sympathetic response from Sardar Patel who told me: 'Balraj, you are trying to convince a convinced man. But I can do nothing because Pandit Nehru has kept Kashmir in his direct charge'. Dr. Mookerjee made a powerful plea for rethinking about Kashmir in his speech in the Lok Sabha on June 26, 1952. He began with an appeal to Nehru 'to have some patience with those who differ from his policy in relation to Kashmir. It is no use our throwing stones at each other. It is no use our calling each other communalists and reactionary. He should realize that on certain points there are fundamental differences between his approach and what we consider to be the national approach regarding this problem'.