Syama Prasad Mookerjee (6 July 1901 – 23 June 1953) was an Indian barrister, educationist, politician, activist, social worker, and a minister in the state and national governments.

[10] Syama Mukherjee was born during the British Raj on 6 July 1901 in Calcutta,[11][12][13] now located in the West Bengal state of India.

[26] During his term as Vice-Chancellor, Rabindranath Tagore delivered the University Convocation Address in Bengali for the first time, and the Indian vernacular was introduced as a subject for the highest examination.

on the Ex-Vice Chancellor in its opinion "by reason of eminent position and attainments, a fit and proper person to receive such a degree.

[citation needed] He started his political career in 1929, when he entered the Bengal Legislative Council as an Indian National Congress (INC) candidate representing Calcutta University.

He was also prevented from visiting the Midnapore district in 1942 when severe floods caused a heavy loss of life and property.

[19] In February 1941, Mukherjee told a Hindu rally that if Muslims wanted to live in Pakistan they should "pack their bag and baggage and leave India ... [to] wherever they like".

[42] Yet, the Hindu Mahasabha also formed provincial coalition governments with the All-India Muslim League in Sindh and the North-West Frontier Province while Mukherjee was its leader.

[44][45] Mukherjee demanded the partition of Bengal in 1946 to prevent the inclusion of its Hindu-majority areas in a Muslim-dominated East Pakistan.

[47][48] His views were strongly affected by the Noakhali genocide in East Bengal, where mobs belonging to the Muslim League massacred Hindus.

[52][53][54][55] Mukherjee wrote a letter to Sir John Herbert, Governor of Bengal as to how they should respond to "Quit India" movement.

In this letter, dated 26 July 1942 he wrote: Let me now refer to the situation that may be created in the province as a result of any widespread movement launched by the Congress.

It should be possible for us, especially responsible Ministers, to be able to tell the public that the freedom for which the Congress has started the movement, already belongs to the representatives of the people.

Majumdar noted this fact and states: Shyam Prasad ended the letter with a discussion of the mass movement organised by Congress.

In that letter he mentioned item-wise the steps to be taken for dealing with the situation...[58]During Mukherjee's resignation speech, however, he characterised the policies of the British government towards the movement as "repressive".

That he who had made India free and self-reliant, a friend of all and enemy of none, loved and respected by millions, should fall at the hands of an assassin, one of his own community and countrymen, is a matter of the deepest shame and tragedy.

Neogy from the Cabinet on 8 April 1950 over a disagreement about the 1950 Delhi Pact with Pakistani Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan.

In the 1952 elections, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) won three seats in the Parliament of India, including Mukherjee's.

In opposition to this, Mukherjee once said "Ek desh mein do Vidhan, do Pradhan aur Do Nishan nahi chalenge" (A single country can't have two constitutions, two prime ministers, and two national emblems).

[72] Bharatiya Jana Sangh along with Hindu Mahasabha and Jammu Praja Parishad launched a massive Satyagraha to get the provisions removed.

[66] Mukherjee went to visit Kashmir in 1953 and observed a hunger strike to protest the law that prohibited Indian citizens from settling within the state and mandating that they carry ID cards.

[76][66] On 5 August 2019, when Government of India proposed constitutional Amendment to repeal Article 370, many BJP members described the event as realisation of Syama Prasad Mukherjee's dream.

Rama Prasad became a judge in High Court of Calcutta, while Uma became famed as a trekker and a travel writer.

The relics of Gautam Buddha's two disciples Sariputra and Maudgalyayana, discovered in the Great Stupa at Sanchi by Sir Alexander Cunningham in 1851 and kept at the British Museum, were brought back to India by HMIS Tir.

The prime minister declared that he had asked a number of persons who were privy to the facts and, according to him, there was no mystery behind Mukherjee's death.

[96] One of main thoroughfare in Calcutta was renamed Syama Prasad Mukherjee Road on 3 July 1953 a few days after his death.

[104] The MCD also built the Syama Prasad Swimming Pool Complex which hosted aquatic events during the 2010 Commonwealth Games held at New Delhi.

[108] The government of India approved the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) with an outlay of ₹51.42 billion (US$590 million) on 16 September 2015.

The Mission was launched by the Prime Minister on 21 February 2016 at Kurubhata, Murmunda Rurban Cluster, Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh.

[111] In September 2017, Kolar, a town in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, was renamed as Shyama Prasad Mukherji Nagar by the state's Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan.