I n the weeks and months following the death of Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee in the early hours of 23 June 1953, a sordid and sad story emerges from official reports, papers and notes, and interviews with close associates and family members. What took most people by surprise was the statement of Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, as he had had long personal contacts with Syama Babu. Pt. Nehru had earlier expressed sorrow in eloquent terms at the death of the Soviet leader JV Stalin, but could only send a brief message to West Bengal Chief Minister: “Grieved to learn of Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee’s sudden death. Kindly convey my deep sympathy and condolence to his family.”

The obstruction in obtaining an IAF Dakota plane for flying Syama Babu’s body from Srinagar to Adampur aerodrome was another pointer to New Delhi’s antipathy to Syama Babu. Had it not been for Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, there would certainly have been delay in bringing Syama Babu’s body to Calcutta. The Union Home Minister Kailash Nath Katju’s refusal to allow the body to land in Delhi during transit was a highly unreasonable act. All India Radio broadcast the news of Syama Babu’s death after more than nine hours, and that too towards the close of the news bulletin, without any further commentary. It was in Geneva that Pt. Nehru learnt of Syama Babu’s death.

The grief-stricken mother of Syama Babu, Jogmaya Devi, wrote a letter to Nehru: “My son died in detention, detention without trial … you say you had visited Kashmir during my son’s detention. You speak of the affection you had for him. But what prevented you, I wonder, from meeting him there personally and satisfying yourself about his health and arrangements? … ever since his detention there, the first information that I, his mother, received from the government of Jammu and Kashmir was that my son was no more … and in what cruel cryptic way the message was conveyed.” Further communication between Jogmaya Devi and Nehru makes for a very sad reading.

Even the President of the West Bengal Congress Committee, Atulya Ghosh felt that “it was amazing that no intimation was sent to his family members nor to his physician, B.C. Roy…the Kashmir Government appears to be callous … the way the news was conveyed to the house of Dr. Mukerjee was highly objectionable.” Though Syama Babu passed away on 23 June 1953, it was only on 27 November 1953 that a resolution was passed in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly to hold an inquiry into the causes and circumstances of his death. Gyanendra Kumar Chaudhary moved this resolution asking the State Government to request the Central Government to hold an inquiry through a Commission with a judge of the Supreme Court of India as its Chairman. Another........

© The Statesman