Sajjad Lone does not deserve Syama Prasad Mookerjee award
Syama Prasad Mookerjee was one of the foremost politicians of the 1940s and the 1950s who never received his due recognition owing to his ideological conflicts with Jawaharlal Nehru. He had a stellar academic record. He secured the first position in both his undergraduate (in English) and masters (in Bengali) in 1921 and 1923 respectively from Calcutta University, which was one of the foremost universities of the times.
He became the youngest vice-chancellor of Calcutta University (age 33, in 1934), and served in that capacity till 1938. During his term as vice-chancellor, he had invited Rabindranath Tagore to give convocation address in Bengali in 1937, which was then unprecedented. In his political career, he is known to have striven for ensuring justice to Hindus in the face of Islamist aggression and violence prior to 1947, and appeasement politics post 1947. He led a movement that ensured that West Bengal remained in India when the country was divided in 1947.
Post the transfer of power in 1947, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru inducted Mookerjee in his cabinet. He resigned from the Cabinet on 6 April 1950 objecting to Muslim appeasement of Nehru in general, and Nehru's joint pact with Pakistani Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, in particular. He wanted to hold Pakistan directly responsible for the persecution and subsequent exodus of lakhs of Hindus from East Pakistan. He founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) on 21 October 1951 in Delhi and he became its first President. The BJS is the political precursor of the current BJP.
BJS demanded a uniform civil code and termination of the special status given to the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir, conferred by Article 370. Specifically, BJS opposed the granting of a separate flag and a separate Prime Minister to Kashmir, as also the restriction that no one, including the President of India could enter into Kashmir without the permission of Kashmir's Prime Minister. Mookerjee had famously demanded that, "Ek desh mein do Vidhan, do Pradhan aur Do Nishan nahi chalenge" (There cannot be two constitutions, two prime ministers and two national emblems in one country).
BJS along with Hindu Mahasabha and Ram Rajya Parishad launched a massive Satyagraha against the above provisions. Mookerjee went to visit Kashmir in 1953, observed a hunger strike to protest against the above provisions, and was arrested on 11 May while crossing Kashmir Border at Lakhanpur. He died on 23 June 1953 under mysterious circumstances.
Lady Jogmaya Devi Mookerjee, the mother of Syama Prasad Mookerjee, wrote to Nehru on 04/07/1953, pp. 249-251, [1] "His death is shrouded in mystery. Is it not most astounding and shocking that ever since his detention there, the first information that I, his mother, received from the government of Kashmir was that my son was 'no more', and that also at least two hours after the end? And in what a cruel, cryptic way the message was conveyed! …. A fearless son of free India has met his death while "in detention without trial" under most tragic and mysterious circumstances. I, the mother of the great departed soul, demand that an absolutely impartial and open enquiry by independent and competent persons be held without any delay. I know nothing can bring back to us the life that is no more. But I do want is that the people of India must judge for themselves, the real causes of this great tragedy enacted in a free country and the part that was played by your government."
And Nehru replied to Lady Jogmaya on 05/07/1953 thus [2], "I did not venture to write to you before without going into the matter of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee's detention and death fairly carefully. I have since enquired further into it from a number of persons who had occasion to know "some facts". I can only say to you that I arrived at the clear and honest conclusion that there is no mystery in this and that Dr Mookerjee was given every consideration"
It is no surprise therefore that the Nehruvian regimes would not recognize the contributions of Mookerjee. Thus, when a prominent right wing magazine, Swarajya Magazine, announced an award in his name, it gave immense satisfaction to many right thinking citizens. Within a few days, the satisfaction and anticipation was however transformed to a rude shock when a (former) separatist from Kashmir, Sajjad Lone, was chosen as the awardee.
Sajjad Lone is the son of Abdul Ghani Lone, who became a minister in the government of Jammu and Kashmir, subsequently became a separatist, and eventually was assassinated by rival separatist gangs. Sajjad Lone is married to Asma Khan, daughter of the Pakistan-based separatist JKLF leader Aman-ullah Khan. Sajjad Lone has frequently participated in mainstream TV debates in capacity of "a separatist leader". During the Amarnath agitation in Jammu, which started when the Congress-PDP coalition government cancelled the temporary allocation of land for Amarnath pilgrims, Sajjad Lone made several derogatory remarks about Jammu in TV debates. For instance, he asked Arnab Goswami (Times Now),
"Are you comparing the agitation in a few Mohallas in Jammu to that of a Pan-Kashmir Agitation?" Then, as the agitation gathered steam, he unabashedly told Rajdeep Sardesai (CNN-IBN) "We should give one and half district to Jammu and live peacefully." In Barkha Dutt's programme, he dismissed Jitendra Singh as, "the land row is settled, all that is to be settled is Azadi", and wanted Jitendra Singh's mike to be muted. [3] Thus, Lone unequivocally stood for the separation of Kashmir from India.
About five years back Lone had joined electoral politics. It appears that the shift is tactical rather than ideological. He has definitely taken oath under the Indian constitution, but historically such oaths have rarely been meaningful. During India's freedom struggle against the British, many leaders of the Indian national Congress were elected in councils and assumed ministerial and other offices which involved oaths of allegiance to the crown, but in reality they never renounced their demand for independence. For example, Subhas Chandra Bose had been elected mayor of Calcutta, but when the time came, he took up arms against the British. In Lone's case, he is yet to demand that article 370 be abolished, or that Kashmiri Pandits who were expelled en masse from the valley be rehabilitated at their homes, or that they be allowed to conduct their religious pilgrimages in groups (eg, the
Kashmiri Pandits were recently stopped from conducting an ancient pilgrimage journey, the Kousar Nag Yatra). Thus, he hasnt clarified his feelings or positions on the core demands and issues with which Mookerjee moved politically in the agitation which ultimately led to his arrest and "mysterious" death. He has also never demanded an investigation into the circumstances of Mookerjee's death. Notwithstanding the above, Lone has allied with BJP and had helped organize a rally for Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in Srinagar.
It is unclear if such acts by themselves make him an Indian nationalist per se, and it is safe to conclude that Lone's core ideology is in sharp contrast to the article of faith that Shyamaprasad Mookerjee died for, the integration of Kashmir with India. It is therefore incomprehensible as to why Swarajya Magazine bestowed the Shyamaprasad Mookerjee award for politics on Sajjad Lone. Or, directly put, if Lone is not prepared to compromise on his separatism (beyond mere tactical moves) and refuses to participate in the restoration of at least equal rights to non-Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir, doesn't granting the Shyamaprasad Mookerjee award to Lone tantamount to the rejection Mookerjee's agenda as futile and defeated and submission to political opportunism like that of Lone's?
Given the concerns described above, we sought to obtain some clarity from Swarajya Magazine as to the constitution of the award and the process they followed in deciding the winner. Specifically, we wrote to them as follows on 18 November, 2015:
"You are probably aware that we have deep reservations about Swarajya's choice of Sajjad Lone for Shyama Prasad Mukherjee award for politics. We are deliberating on whether to write a piece where we elaborate on our concerns.
As part of accepted journalistic and intellectual practice, we would like to reproduce your views, with exact quotes if you will, on some issues we examine on the piece. Towards that end, we solicit your views on the following:1) Is there any particular reason why your award on politics was instituted on Shyamaprasad Mukherjee? The question arises because of the award winner's connection with Kashmir which Mookerjee was associated with as well2) What was the process you followed in deciding the winner? Did you form a committee to decide the winner? If so, can you disclose the names of the committee members?3) What were the reasons for selecting Sajjad Lone as the winner of the award?4) Some tweeps you hold in high regard (eg, @barbarindian) have suggested in open TL that the selection was part of statecraft intended to drive a wedge between separatists. Would you like to comment on that suggestion?5) Anything else you wish to add
If you decline to respond, do let us know as we will mention that in our article as well, should we write it."
Our email has not been acknowledged as yet. Given the utter lack of transparency, it appears that a nationalist icon's legacy has been misused for a partisan political purpose by association with a separatist who was part of grievous injustice to the Hindu populace of his state. The troubling questions however do not end here.
Swarajya is ideologically close to a political party, the BJP, and many of its leading office-holders are die-hard supporters of PM Modi. These, in themselves, are not problematic as long as the magazine clarifies its role. There is clearly a difference between being ideologically right wing and being a mouthpiece of a political party. There is nothing wrong with the latter either as long as appropriate disclaimers are provided so that the readers are aware of the character of the venue while submitting articles there and while absorbing the contents therein.
The uncomfortable concerns on the confluence of roles arise as the extent of political influence in selection of such an unusual awarde recipient remains unclear.
It is pertinent to note that Lone is currently an ally of BJP which is currently a coalition partner in the government of Jammu and Kashmir. Was this award therefore used as a political vehicle for rewarding an ally of BJP? If so, is it right to misuse the name of a national icon for a limited political goal? Surely the principled objections would have been much less stringent if Swarajya magazine instituted an award in the name of any other political figure associated with the BJP, but not with the agitation on Article 370 and the status of Jammu and Kashmir, and awarded it to Sajjad Lone?
Worthwhile to note that Mookerjee, the founder of the Jan Sangh (the predecessor of the current BJP) is claimed only by the BJP and by no other political party, so it would appear that only the BJP has a political purpose in utilising Mookerjee's name for a political purpose (although BJP has effectively shelved Mookerjee's agenda by bypassing the demand for the abrogation of article 370 from its manifesto for the assembly polls of Jammu and Kashmir [4]).
One wonders if Mookerjee's name was abused for narrow partisan purposes, because political risks for BJP involved therein were minimal, considering that no other existing political party claims him, despite his iconic status in fighting for the Hindus of Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir.
It has been publicly suggested to us that the award to Lone is a part of statecraft intended to drive a wedge between separatists and idealism has no place in statecraft. The suggestion has not been responded to by Swarajya Magazine. We certainly believe that statecraft has to be guided by core values which preclude the abuse of names of national icons for facilitating real-politik. Besides, from a principled standpoint, ought a journal to be a tool of realpolitik or explorations on issues not restricted by requirements of realpolitik? Realpolitik is expected or claimed to necessarily require lying, fabricating, prevaricating, denying, of realities and events and facts, and in general, positions that are formally and openly untenable as per the moral or ethical standards of the society concerned, or the political stands of the party concerned - and hence the need to conceal the real motivations.
The concealment is justified by those who do so as compensated for by some underlying, but defined to be higher, purpose. If Swarajya magazine is adopting realpolitik in its journalism can it state its higher purpose in doing so? What are the larger national and cultural as well as political or military (that which is supposedly usually of concern for "realpolitik") goals that will be satisfied by humilaiting SPM's legacy in awarding Lone? And, if Swarajya magazine is part of PM Modi's statecraft, which is clearly a political role, it needs to announce its conflict of interests. Such declarations are essential as the default expectation is that there would be a separation between intellectual and political roles.
May we remind the Swarajya magazine that Mookerjee had made many compromises in his life in his capacity as a politician, but not as an intellectual or an academic? It is also pertinent to note that principal office bearers of Swarajya have routinely admonished main stream media, and rightly so, for serving as political wings of the Congress and/or the Left parties without ever declaring their persuasions.
The same office bearers of Swarajya, and right wing in general, have again rightly chastised successive Congress governments for selecting national awards based on political expediency rather than merit. It is true that accountability for national awards is significantly higher than awards selected by private ventures like Swarajya, as the national awards are funded by tax rupees. Nonetheless, Swarajya is in part funded by public subscription, and like charity, good practices (of selecting awards based purely on merit) also begin at home. The needs of the hour for a nascent right wing eco-system are intellectual vehicles that are insulated from political interference. It is time to know if Swarajya Magazine meets that description.
References:
[1] SC Das, Bharat Kesri Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee with Modern Implications, Abhinav Publications
[2] Tarun Vijay, Why Kaveri wears Saffron, Times of India, 28/05/2008
[3] Rashneek Kher, Sajjad Lone's U-turn, 4 May, 2009
[4] J&K polls: Article 370, core concerns of BJP missing in party's manifesto, November 28, 2014