This Article is From Aug 06, 2019

For Syama Prasad Mookerjee's Nephew, Kashmir Move A "Consolation"

Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday told the Rajya Sabha about centre's decision to scrap Article 370, which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Justice Mookerjee has served both Calcutta High Court and Bombay High Court as chief justice.

New Delhi:

The centre's move to revoke Article 370, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir, is "not a matter of celebration", Justice Chhittatosh Mookerjee, the nephew of Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee, said on Monday.

''It is not a matter of celebration. We continue to grieve for him. He died in the prime of his life,'' Justice Mookerjee told NDTV.

Syama Prasad Mookerjee, a politician, lawyer and academic, founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the predecessor to the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1951. He was strongly opposed to Article 370 which he believed was a threat to India's unity and therefore needed to be abrogated.

Syama Prasad Mookerjee dreamed of the day when Article 370 would be repealed, according to his family. Eventually, he was jailed in Kashmir in 1953 where he died.

"There is a sense of satisfaction with what the government has achieved," Justice Mookerjee, 90, said, however, he made it clear that he doesn't ''belong to politics.''

''What it is, if you put it correctly, is a matter of satisfaction that what he tried to achieve has now been achieved,'' said Justice Mookerjee, who has served both the Calcutta High Court and the Bombay High Court as the chief justice.

''[It's] not a political decision for the family but consolation, not celebration. Consolation, perhaps a little bit of thinking of what has been achieved, perhaps not in the way it could have been done in those days," he said.

On Monday, in a stunning announcement, Home Minister Amit Shah informed the Rajya Sabha about the centre's decision to scrap Article 370, which was drafted into the constitution to give a special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

The move ensures that there will be one constitution and one flag for Jammu and Kashmir. The decision has split political parties down the middle with some saying the move, which takes away autonomy from the state, deeply affects the unique identity of millions in the state.
 

.