Kolkata: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday paid tributes to Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his 125th birth anniversary, describing the occasion as an “emotional day” and asserting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had fulfilled Mookerjee’s resolve by abrogating Article 370 and making Jammu and Kashmir an integral part of India.
Addressing a public event here, Shah said “Today is an emotional day for many people like me. Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee ji sacrificed his life to integrate Kashmir with India. He resigned from the country’s first Cabinet due to the Nehru-Liaquat Pact. He emphasised that India’s policies should be crafted from the fragrance of India’s own soil. Today, on the occasion of his 125th birth anniversary in Bengal, the foundation stone of his grand 125-foot statue has been laid,”
Shah explained that Mookerjee resigned from independent India’s first Cabinet because he found the Nehru-Liaquat Pact to be lopsided, as it ignored the plight of Hindus remaining in Pakistan. Shah noted:
“I have seen the resignation letter he submitted after the first Cabinet meeting. At that time, an agreement was reached between Jawaharlal Nehru and Liaquat. Upon studying the Nehru-Liaquat Pact, Dr Mookerjee remarked that it showed absolutely no concern for the Hindus in Pakistan and what was then East Pakistan. It took into consideration the Muslims who stayed in India, but not the Hindus who stayed in Pakistan and Bangladesh. He called it lopsided, and therefore he decided to resign from the Cabinet,”
Connecting Mookerjee’s legacy to current government policies, Shah highlighted the abrogation of Article 370:
“On Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s 125th birth anniversary, Modi ji fulfilled his resolve and abolished Article 370. Today, Kashmir is an integral part of Bharat.”
Shah also discussed the Center’s citizenship policy and promised the completion of citizenship procedures for persecuted Hindu refugees under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA):
“Today, the government of the same party has brought the CAA to grant citizenship to all Hindu refugees living in India. Today, I want to say from this platform that we will soon fulfil the remaining formalities for granting citizenship as well, because the BJP government is in West Bengal,”
Turning to legal reforms, Shah announced that a committee for the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) had been formed and that it would be implemented in the state:
“The committee for UCC has already been formed. The Uniform Civil Code is also set to be implemented in West Bengal,”
Shah praised the state government’s actions against crime, pointing to newly passed legislation as a key turning point, and noted that the process of removing infiltrators had commenced:
“The West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order Amendment Bill 2026 has now been passed. We had promised to teach the goons a lesson, and today this bill has become the first step in that direction,”
Finally, Shah recalled how the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, founded by Mookerjee, has evolved into the ruling BJP, which now governs a vast majority of India. He concluded by stating that the Modi government is working toward a developed India by 2047 based on Mookerjee’s civilizational vision:
“The party started today by Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee ji, the Jana Sangh, is now operating across two-thirds of the country’s area and more than two-thirds of its population in accordance with his policies, as the BJP. When he founded the Jana Sangh, he had taken a pledge that merely changing the government would not glorify India. The policies of free India should be crafted from the fragrance of India’s own soil, without the shadow of the West upon them. Today, under the leadership of Modi ji, India is advancing in that very direction.”
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