Paying tributes to Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his death anniversary, BJP president Amit Shah said Sunday that it is due to his sacrifice that people from other states can travel to Jammu and Kashmir without permit and that West Bengal became a part of India.
Shah, who is also the Union home minister, went to the BJPheadquarters here to pay tributes to Mookerjee and asserted that his agitationfor Jammu and Kashmir’s complete integration with the country was independentIndia’s first nationalist stir.
On the occasion, BJP working president J P Nadda said theparty remains committed to Mookerjee’s ideals and also referred to his deathunder “mysterious circumstances”, slamming the then prime ministerJawaharlal Nehru for not ordering a probe.
He had died in 1953 in Srinagar in police custody after hehad entered the northern state, defying the requirement for obtaining a permitfor doing so.The then government had said he had died due tomedical reasons after his health conditions deteriorated in custody. The JanaSangh, the precursor to BJP, had suspected a foul play and sought a probe.