Bengal on Monday witnessed an unprecedented celebration of the 125th birth anniversary of Syama Prasad Mookerjee, with Union home minister Amit Shah laying the foundation stone of a 125-foot-tall metal statue of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder.
The Suvendu Adhikari government observed the occasion at 10,000 locations across Bengal, vowing to take the state forward in line with the ideals of Mookerjee.
While Shah participated in three events in the city, Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined the celebrations virtually to deliver his message.
Shah laid the foundation stone of Mookerjee’s statue at Eco Park. The statue, which will be the tallest in the state, will use 140 metric tonnes of bell metal and 370 metric tonnes of steel. A source said the project would be funded jointly by the central and state governments. The statue is expected to stand for generations as a tribute to him. Shah also visited the ancestral home of Syama Prasad Mookerjee
in Bhabanipur.
The home minister said the statue would not merely be a tribute to Mookerjee but would also mark the beginning of the journey towards building Sonar Bangla.
“More than 63 years after his death, on the occasion of his 125th birth anniversary, the foundation stone has been laid in Bengal for a 125-foot-tall statue of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee,” Shah said while addressing a gathering at Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan.
“I see this foundation-laying ceremony differently. I have come to tell the people of Bengal and the country that this is not merely the foundation ceremony for a statue of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee; it is the foundation ceremony for fulfilling the resolve of building Sonar Bangla,” he added.
Shah said attempts had been made both across the country and in Bengal, where Mookerjee was born, to make people forget his legacy.
“Many people tried to erase his legacy. Even in Bengal, where he was born, efforts were made to make people forget him. But, as the saying goes, no one can hide the sun forever,” he said.
Suvendu also referred to the alleged attempts to erase Mookerjee’s legacy.
The speeches of both Shah and Suvendu made it clear that the new BJP government intended to promote Mookerjee’s ideology, which they claimed had long been suppressed, through year-long celebrations marking his 125th birth anniversary.
Suvendu announced that the government had not only declared a public holiday on Mookerjee’s birth anniversary but had also organised celebrations at 10,000 locations across the state, with at least 50 lakh people participating in the events.
He said the government would recommend that the syllabus committee include Mookerjee’s life, struggles, and contribution to the making of present-day West Bengal in the school
curriculum.
Modi delivered a virtual address at the Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan celebration, claiming that the dreams envisioned by Mookerjee had been fulfilled by the present central government.
“The dreams that Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee had envisioned have been fulfilled by our government,” Modi said, referring to the abrogation of Section 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
“I want to tell the youth that Dr Mookerjee sacrificed his life for ‘Ek Bharat’, and I urge you to live for ‘Shreshtha Bharat’,” he added.
Shah also proposed setting up a Syama Prasad research centre at the site where the statue would be installed and highlighted the political change that has taken place in Bengal in the backdrop of Mookerjee’s 125th birth anniversary.
Besides Shah, Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya were present at the celebration.