Education in Bengal has taken nosedive, we must take it to its past glory: JP Nadda
Jul 06, 2020
New Delhi [India], July 6 : BJP President JP Nadda on Monday asserted that education in Bengal has taken a nosedive and said that we must be dedicated to taking the education in the state back to its previous glory.
Addressing a virtual rally in West Bengal on the birth anniversary of Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the BJP chief said, "Mookerjee had led the state of West Bengal to new heights. It was said that what Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow. The state has always given direction to the nation. But today, education in Bengal has taken a nosedive."
The BJP President said that we must be dedicated to taking the level of education in the state back to the level of its previous glory.
Speaking about Mookerjee's achievements, Nadda said that he had become the youngest vice-chancellor of Calcutta University in 1934 at a mere age of 33.
"In 1937, as vice-chancellor, he invited Rabindranath Tagore to address the convocation ceremony and asked him to deliver his address in Bengali. This was the first time when a major address at a convocation ceremony took place in an Indian language," he said.
"Syama Prasad Mookerjee later became the Finance Minister of Bengal province in 1941 and resigned in 1942. He never gave a lot of importance to the position but to ideals. He devoted his life to his ideals," Nadda added.
He said that it was clear that Mookerjee had resigned due to the appeasement politics that was going on in Bengal and spoke out against it.
"He (Mookerjee) knew that the Muslim League was trying to take Bengal as a part of Pakistan. He is one of the leading forces that helped India retain Bengal. It is because of Syama Prasad Mookerjee that Bengal is still on the map of India," Nadda said.
The BJP chief said that Mookerjee had questioned why Jammu and Kashmir was being given a special status under Article 370 of the Constitution but added that Nehru did not listen to him.
Mookerjee founded Bharatiya Jan Sangh in 1951 and in a 1952 address in Kanpur said that Jammu and Kashmir should be integrated into the country, Nadda said.
"He (Mookerjee) did a press conference in 1953 and said If in a 35-crore country, four crore Muslims can live happily, why can't 25 lakh Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir live happily? I would revolt against this permit raj and I'd hoist the Indian flag there," he added.
Nadda said that Mookerjee, who was a non-Congress minister in the Nehru cabinet, had criticised and resigned from his post in 1950 over the Nehru-Liaquat Ali pact.
According to Pact, signed between Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistani Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan in 1950, it was promised that religious minorities of both the country would get equal opportunities in politics, services, and permission to practice the faith.
Nadda said that Mookerjee had observed that the pact was not in the interest of India.
"When his ideals didn't match, he resigned from the Nehru cabinet in 1950... Taking about Nehru, Mookerjee had said that the appeasement politics he had started in India won't help the nation and that it would not save the minorities in Pakistan, After this, Nehru had to stop the plan to give electoral reservation based on religion," he added.
