Political and social justice requires, not the disintegration of a country and destruction or humiliation of a class which shows initiative, intelligence and drive, but equality of opportunity for all, genuine freedom for self-fulfilment, in which all men irrespective of caste or creed may share.

What we deplore is not that the gate of western knowledge was thrown open to Indians, but that such knowledge was imported to India at the sacrifice of our own cultural heritage. What was needed was a proper synthesis between the two systems and not neglect, far less destruction, of the Indian base.

The very system of education which was deemed essential for forging bonds of unbroken alliance with the British power succeeded in unleashing revolutionary ideas and thoughts, which ultimately helped to throw off the yoke of

alien rule in India. If we take a dispassionate view of what happened during the last one century, we must acknowledge that this has been an era in which good has been mixed with evil. The contact between the Indian mind and western thought and civilisation did not enslave the soul of India. In every domain of thought, in arts and architecture, in science, in history, philosophy and letters, in social services and in religious thought, great Indians gave their best, maintaining their stamp of originality as well as imbibing and assimilating fruits of western skill and knowledge. Though the number of Indians affected by such spread of knowledge was comparatively small, many of them assumed a much needed political leadership and became the instruments of agitation and mass movements, leading ultimately to the political liberation of their country. The cultural Renaissance preceded and created the silent Revolution.

(Source: Educational Speeches by Dr. Shyamaprasad Mookerjee, 1959, A.Mukherjee & Co. (Private) Ltd., 2 College Square, Kolkata 700 012)

Others talking about Shyama Prasad Mookerjee
His religion was not of the narrow kind. He was catholic in his sympathies and broad-minded in his outlook. Patriotism is not merely love of the land in which we are born; it is respect for the ideals by which we are sustained. That man has a spiritual dimension, that its development can take place in various ways, that we should have respect for all these ways are some of the cardinal features of Indian tradition. It is Indian and not merely Hindu. Shyamaprasad Mookerjee was an ardent advocate of these great ideals.

Swami Vivekananda once said that no great task can ever be performed by tricks and stratagems. Our youths do not lack brilliance or intellectual gifts. But they must be equally endowed with that solidarity and strength of body and character which defy mountains of obstacles, that purity of conduct and sense of individual and public morality which make man greater than a mere animal of the human species and raise him above his circumstances and even superior to fate. I ask you fervently to apply your minds to the solution of the great problems that face your country, specially to fight those reactionaries who are out to destroy the vital rights of Hindu citizenship. If you have to reach the height of liberty you have to be solemnly earnest about your programme of work and prepare yourselves for the greatest suffering and sacrifice.

(Excerpts from the book -'Bharat Keshari Syama Prasad', page no. 10)

Let us recall the words of the great Indian seer, one of the true makers of New India, Sri Aurobindo, that the bare intellectual idea of the Motherland is not in itself a great driving force; the mere recognition of the desirability is not an inspiring motive. There are few who do not admit that freedom in the abstract is a desirable thing. Many have the wish to see freedom accomplished but few have the will to accomplish it. It is not till the Motherland reveals herself to the eye of the mind as something more than a stretch of earth or a mass of individuals, it is not till she takes shape as a great Divine and Maternal Power in a form of beauty that can dominate the mind and seize the heart, that petty fears and hopes vanish in the all-absorbing passion for the Mother and her service, and the patriotism that works miracles and saves a doomed nation is born. Bande Mataram is the sacred mantra that in a single day converted a whole people to the religion of patriotism. No other mantra can make its appeal to the sons and daughters of Hindustan.

(Excerpts from the book -'Bharat Keshari Syama Prasad', page no. 11)

(Excerpts from the book –‘Bharat Keshari Syama Prasad’, page no. 11)