SP Mukherjee vs. Liaquat-Nehru Pact

SP Mukherjee vs. Liaquat-Nehru Pact

Main Examination: General Studies Paper 1

(Modern History: Nehru-Liaquat Pact)

June 24, 2023

In News:

  • In recent days, the 70th death anniversary of Syama Prasad Mukherjee is being celebrated.
  • He resigned from Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet in 1950 due to the Nehru-Liaquat Pact after the partition of India and Pakistan.

Syama Prasad Mukherjee:

key points-

  • Born in Kolkata on 6 July 1901, Syama Prasad Mukherjee was an Indian politician, barrister and educationist, he served as India's first Minister of Industry and Supply (currently, known as the Ministry of Commerce and Industry) in Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet. After a rift with Nehru, he resigned from Nehru's cabinet, protesting the Liaquat-Nehru Pact.
  • With the help of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, S.P. Mukherjee founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the predecessor of the Bharatiya Janata Party, in 1951.
  • As the Bharatiya Janata Party is the successor of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Mukherjee is also considered by its members to be the founder of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
  • From 1943 to 1946, he was the President of the All India Hindu Mahasabha. In 1953, when he tried to cross the state border, he was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police. He was tentatively diagnosed with a heart attack and shifted to the hospital but died a day later i.e. on 23 June 1953.
  • While the government announced that he died of a heart attack, many believe that he was silenced because of his opposition to Nehru and his stand on Article 370, in which Kashmir was promised special status.
  • Mukherjee famously said, "One country cannot have two constitutions, two prime ministers and two flags", referring to the provisions of Article 370.
  • Even today, Mukherjee's death remains a conspiracy theory, with some in the BJP still demanding an investigation.

Why was the post of cabinet minister offered to Syama Prasad Mukherjee? Why did he resign?

  • After the bloodshed of Partition, Nehru was adamant not to follow the path of Hindu Rashtra, which was a homeland for Muslims, symbolized by Pakistan. However, being a great liberal politician, Nehru was also aware of the need for diverse voices in government to reflect the diversity of views and identities in the country.
  • As a result, Nehru invited two members from outside the party to join his cabinet, despite the Congress having an overwhelming majority. These were Dr. BR Ambedkar and Syama Prasad Mukherjee.
  • Mukherjee, a member of the Hindu Mahasabha, was inducted into the Interim Government on August 15, 1947, as the Minister of Industries and Supplies.
  • He remained in his ministerial post for only less than three years, resigning in April 1950 over the controversial Nehru-Liaquat pact.
  • Unlike previous differences with Nehru during his ministership, Mukherjee and Nehru's differences regarding the accord proved to be inconsequential.

Why was the Nehru-Liaquat pact signed?

  • The Nehru-Liaquat Pact, also known as the Delhi Pact, was a bilateral agreement signed between India and Pakistan for the interests of minorities in both the countries. It was signed by two Prime Ministers of the country, Jawaharlal Nehru and Liaquat Ali Khan.
  • The need for such an accord was felt by the minorities in both the countries after partition, which was accompanied by large scale communal riots. Even in 1950, three years after Partition was announced, some estimates say that more than a million Hindus and Muslims migrated to East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh), amid undeclared violence and sectarian tension.

Points related to the agreement between India and Pakistan:

  • The Governments of India and Pakistan will ensure to the minorities in their respective territories, full equality of citizenship, regardless of religion, full sense of security with respect to life, culture, property and personal dignity, and full freedom of movement.
  • Both countries will provide freedom of business, speech and worship to minorities within their borders, subject to law and morality.
  • The Governments of both the countries will declare fundamental rights to the members of the minorities to participate in public life, to hold political or other office and to serve in the civil and armed forces of their country on an equal basis with the members of the majority community.
  • Under this agreement, the Prime Ministers of both the countries ensured the obligation to give constitutional rights to the minorities through objective resolutions in their respective Constituent Assembly.

What was SP Mukherjee's problem with the Liaquat-Nehru pact?

  • Initially, Mukherjee was a supporter of a united India, but as partition became inevitable, he turned his attention to the divided Bengal (West Bengal), specifically Hindu Bengalis.
  • Mukherjee was incensed when the Delhi Accord was signed, promising minority rights and setting up of minority commissions in both India and Pakistan. Given the huge number of Hindu refugees from East Pakistan, he felt that the agreement was a betrayal of a Hindu India and a Muslim Pakistan.
  • Speaking at the annual meeting of the RSS, Mukherjee said, “After almost 1,000 years, Hindus have got a chance to build the building they want. Let us not be short-sighted in his birth land and do not commit any such mistake for which the future generation will curse us. India's destiny lies in basing its affairs on the true concerns of Hinduism”.
  • They realized that this settlement would essentially leave Hindus in East Bengal at the mercy of the Pakistani state. Instead, he argued for a systematic exchange of population and wealth at the governmental level between East Bengal and the states of Tripura, Assam, West Bengal and Bihar – allowing Hindu minorities in East Bengal to settle in India.

What did SP Mukherjee do after his resignation?

  • By 1950, Mookerjee had also fallen out with the Hindu Mahasabha, an organization whose approach to national problems he considered "short-sighted". Thus, after resigning from his ministerial post, he turned his attention to starting a new party. With the help of the RSS, he founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1951, a party that contested the 1952 elections and won three seats.
  • Although he died before he could see his party rise to prominence, he laid the foundation for the dominance of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the successor of the Jana Sangh, that is seen today.
  • Some of the issues that the Jana Sangh took up in the 1950s, such as promoting a Uniform Civil Code and banning cow slaughter, continue to top the BJP's election agenda. In particular, the abrogation of Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir was seen as the realization of Mukherjee's biggest dream.

Indian Express

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Practice Question for IAS/PCS Mains Exam

What was the Liaquat-Nehru Pact that led to the resignation of Syama Prasad Mookerjee from the Union Cabinet?