HughStoate90988 at 14:21, 23 January 2026

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{{Short description|Indian politician (1887–1956)}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Harendra Coomar Mookherjee
| image = Harendra Coomar Mookerjee.jpg
| birth_name =
| occupation = Politician, Educationalist, Activist
| party = [[Indian National Congress]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Calcutta]]
| birth_date = 3 October 1887
| birth_place = [[Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|7 August 1956|3 October 1887|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Calcutta]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]]
| office = 3rd [[Governor of West Bengal]]
| term_start = 1 November 1951
| term_end = 7 August 1956
| predecessor = [[Kailash Nath Katju]]
| successor = [[Phani Bhusan Chakravartti]] ''(acting)''
| office2 = Vice President of [[Constituent Assembly of India]]
| president2 = [[Rajendra Prasad]]
| term_start2 =
| term_end2 =
| predecessor2 = ''Office established''
| successor2 =
| office3 = Chairman of Minorities Sub-Committee
| leader3 = [[Vallabhbhai Patel]]
}}

'''Harendra Coomar Mookherjee''' (3 October 1887 – 7 August 1956), also spelt as '''H.C. Mukherjee''', was the Vice-President of the [[Constituent Assembly of India]] for drafting the [[Constitution of India]] before [[Partition of India]], and the third [[Governor of West Bengal]] after [[India]] became a republic with partition into [[India]] and [[Pakistan]].<ref name="gov">{{Cite web|url=http://rulers.org/indstat4.html|title=States after 1947|access-date=29 July 2008|publisher=Rulers|year=2008|author=B. Schemmel}}</ref><ref name="R1">{{cite web |url= http://www.rishabhdara.com/faq/view.php?faq=10&question=What_was_the_Constituent_Assembly_of_India%3F |title= What was the Constituent Assembly of India? |quote= The Vice President of the Constituent Assembly was Professor Harendra Coomar Mookherjee, former Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University and a prominent Christian from Bengal who also served as the Chairman of the Minorities Committee of the Constituent Assembly. He was appointed Governor of West Bengal after India became a republic. |publisher= rishabhdara.com |access-date= 26 May 2012 |archive-date= 7 January 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190107062757/http://www.rishabhdara.com/faq/view.php?faq=10&question=What_was_the_Constituent_Assembly_of_India%3F%20 |url-status= usurped }}</ref><ref name="R3">{{cite web |url= http://www.gktoday.in/gk/constitution-of-india/ |title= Drafting of Indian Constitution – The beginning |publisher= gktoday.in |access-date= 26 May 2012 }}</ref>

He was an [[educationalist]], prominent Christian leader of [[Bengal]], and was the chairman of the Minority rights sub-committee and Provincial constitution committee of the Constituent Assembly—consisting of indirectly elected representatives to draft the Constitution of India, including for provinces of present [[Pakistan]] and [[Bangladesh]] (then [[East Bengal]]) – the assembly considered only [[Muslims]] and [[Sikhs]] as religious minorities – after India became republic, the same Constituent Assembly became the first [[Parliament of India]] in 1947.<ref name="R1"/><ref name="R3"/><ref name="R2">{{cite web |url= http://www.rediff.com/india60/2007/nov/06rishi.htm |title= The Constitution-framers India forgot |date= 6 November 2007 |quote= Represented Bengal. Was vice-president of the assembly and member of the minority rights sub-committee and provincial constitution committee. Went on to become governor of Bengal. |publisher= NY Times Co. |access-date= 26 May 2012 }}</ref><ref name="zee">{{cite web |url= http://zeenews.india.com/news/exclusive/forgotten-fathers-of-the-constitution_598978.html |title= Forgotten fathers of the Constitution |date= 26 January 2010 |quote= H C Mookerjee: A representative of Bengal apart from being the former Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University and a prominent Christian |publisher= zeenews.india.com |access-date= 26 May 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120529125047/http://zeenews.india.com/news/exclusive/forgotten-fathers-of-the-constitution_598978.html |archive-date= 29 May 2012 |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100612/jsp/opinion/story_12554092.jsp |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100613151133/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100612/jsp/opinion/story_12554092.jsp |url-status= dead |archive-date= 13 June 2010 |date=12 June 2010|title= Threats against RI atheist teen being investigated |quote= he sole exception for a while was West Bengal's devoutly Christian rajyapal, Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, whose attire occasioned merriment in the school where no one followed his Biblical references.|publisher= telegraphindia.com |access-date= 26 May 2012 |location=Calcutta, India |first=Sunanda K. |last=Datta-Ray}}</ref><ref name="chow">{{cite web |url= http://www.drthchowdary.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=795&Itemid=57 |title= Reservations for Muslims |quote= H.C.Mookerjee, speaking on behalf of the Christian community |publisher= drthchowdary.net |access-date= 25 May 2012 |archive-date= 7 January 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190107062743/http://www.drthchowdary.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=795&Itemid=57 |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref name="scrib">{{cite web |url= https://www.scribd.com/doc/28430165/Constitutional-Design |title= The Constituent Assembly |author= H.C. Mookherjee |publisher= scribd.com |access-date= 27 May 2012 }} {{subscription required}}</ref>

==Biography==
Born into a [[Hindu]] family in [[Bengal]], he did MA, PhD, [[D.Litt]], and was the first [[Indian people|Indian]] to receive a Doctor of Philosophy degree (from the [[University of Calcutta]]). Mookerjee's doctorate was in English literature, and he went on to become a philanthropist, and teacher.<ref name="sa">{{Cite web|url=http://darjeeling.gov.in/step-aside.html|title=Step Aside|access-date=29 July 2008|publisher=NIC, Darjeeling district centre|author=NIC, Darjeeling district centre}}</ref>

At Calcutta University, he served at various positions—as lecturer, secretary, council of Post-Graduate Teaching in Arts, Inspector of Colleges, professor of English from 1936 to 1940, and head of the English department. He was later nominated to "Bengal Legislative Council" and elected to "Bengal Legislative Assembly."<ref name="scrib"/><ref name="uvm">{{cite web |url= http://www.uvm.edu/~sgutman/Calcutta_University.html |title= A study of the Department of English University of Calcutta |quote= Prof. Harendra Coomar Mookerjee served the University in many capacities – as Lecturer, Secretary, Council of Post-Graduate Teaching in Arts, Inspector of Colleges, and University Professor of English (1936–40).|publisher= uvm.edu |access-date= 26 May 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Chatterj |first= Joya| title=The Spoils of Partition: Bengal and India, 1947–1967 |publisher= Cambridge University Press|url={{Google books |id=FjQ0iWSq2R0C |page=72 |plainurl=yes }} |year= 2007 |page= 72 |isbn= 978-0521875363 }}</ref>

While he was vice-president of the Constituent Assembly of India, and chairman of the Minority rights sub-committee and Provincial constitution committee, he began suggesting reservation for the upliftment of minorities in all fields, including politics. With partition of India, he changed his stance and limited it to provision for preservation of the language and culture of minorities—over the period, this has been interpreted to open educational institutes and other institutions by minority communities.<ref name="R1"/><ref name="R3"/><ref name="R2"/><ref name="zee"/><ref name="chow"/><ref>{{cite book |last= Weiner|first= Myron |author2=Ashutosh Varshney |author3=Gabriel Abraham Almond |title= India and the Politics of Developing Countries: Essays In Memory Of Myron Weiner |publisher= SAGE|url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=wB-k3wWeczYC |page=134 }} |year= 2001 |page= 134 |isbn= 0761932879 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Nigel |first= South|title= Policing for Profit: The Private Security Sector |publisher= SAGE |url= {{Google books |id=HERbRFAQSHAC |page=134 |plainurl=yes }} |year= 1988 |page= 134 |isbn= 0803981759 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Hasan|first= Zoya |author2=Eswaran Sridharan |author3=R. Sudarshan |title= India's Living Constitution: Ideas, Practices, Controversies |publisher= Orient Blackswan |url= {{Google books |id=MO3NiIV_4bUC |plainurl=yes |page=213 }} |year= 2004 |pages= 213–217 |isbn= 8178240874 }}</ref>

Following the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, Dr. Mookerjee was appointed Governor of West Bengal from 1 November 1951 through 7 August 1956. While working as Bengal governor, he served as the president of "Desh Bandhu Memorial Society" from 1953. He died in office on 7 August 1956 in [[Calcutta|Kolkata]].<ref>{{Google books |id=wfHgzS4etAkC |page=514 |title=Land and people of Indian states and union territories }}</ref>

==Christian leader==
He represented Bengali Christians in Bengal, and after his entry into national politics, he was elected as the president of [[All India Conference of Indian Christians]], representing All-Indian Christians other than [[Anglo-Indians]], who were organized as the [[All India Anglo-Indian Association]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Stanley |first= Brian |author-link=Brian Stanley (historian)|author2=Alaine M. Low |title= Missions, Nationalism, and the End of Empire |publisher= Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |url= {{Google books |id=2NCvZWNkQxkC |page=129 |plainurl=yes }} |year= 2003 |page= 129 |isbn= 0802821162 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.lexvidhi.com/article-details/constitutional-law-in-india-421.html |title= Constituent Assembly:- |quote= The Chairman of the Minorities Committee was Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, a distinguished Christian who represented all Christians other than Anglo-Indians |publisher= lexvidhi.com |access-date= 27 May 2012 |archive-date= 7 January 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190107062756/http://www.lexvidhi.com/article-details/constitutional-law-in-india-421.html%20 |url-status= dead }}</ref>

He was also the member of [[Indian National Congress]] and participated in national movements representing the [[Bengali people|Bengali]] Christian community.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://system46.blogspot.in/2012/04/history-of-christianity-in-india.html |title= History of Christianity in India |date= 14 April 2012 |quote= There were Indian Christians such as Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, S.M. George Joseph, J.C. Kumarappa and H.C. Mookerjee who were member of the I.N.C and were actively involved in the National movements. |publisher= system46.blogspot.in |access-date= 25 May 2012 }}</ref><ref name="chr">{{cite web |url= http://www.hindubooks.org/Retrospect_of_Christianity/ch4.htm |title= Happy Gestures |publisher= hindubooks.org |access-date= 25 May 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111229174511/http://www.hindubooks.org/Retrospect_of_Christianity/ch4.htm |archive-date= 29 December 2011 |url-status= dead }}</ref> He confessed to his community as:{{quote|We have to demonstrate by every word we utter and by every act we perform that the professing of a different religious faith has not tended in the least to make us less Indian in our outlook than our non-Christian brethren, that we are prepared to play our part and to shoulder our share of the responsibility in every kind of work undertaken for the benefit of our country as a whole.<ref name="chr"/><ref name="scrib"/>}}

He was the only candidate to be unanimously nominated for Vice-Presidency, with a resolution moved by [[Pattabhi Sitaramayya]], a member of [[Indian National Congress]] and [[Constituent Assembly of India]]; consequently, he expressed his gratitude in the Constituent Assembly of India that met in the Constitution Hall, New Delhi as:{{quote|Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen. I trust that you will accept in advance an apology because I am going to place before you a history of the way in which from a Christian Communalist I became a Christian Indian Nationalist. It was merely an accident that brought me into politics. It was a case of zid and nothing else. Some people had egged me to seek election, but at the last moment deserted me and I was determined to show that though I have been a school-master all, through my life, It was possible for a schoolmaster to be a better man than the black-mailing voter. It so happened that the gentleman against whom I was fighting was a more experienced man with a longer record of service to the community than myself. It also happened that in those days it was more profitable to appeal to communal than to national feelings. I admit with a sense of the deepest shame that I dabbled with the matter. He appealed to communalism. I appealed even more strongly to communalism and that is how I got into politics. But when as President of the All-India Council of Indian Christians the members requested me that I should go and visit poor Christians it was then and then only that I found out that the cause of the 'poor Christian Indian was no better than the cause of the equally poor Hindu Indian and the equally poor Mussalman Indian. It was then that from a Communalist I became a nationalist and if today you have done me the honour of putting me into the position of the Vice-President. be sure that while I am there. I shall not act as a communalist, but I shall remember the duty which I owe to the poor masses of my country. I am not a lawyer. I am not even a politician, Forty-two years of my life have been Passed as a teacher or as a student. I do not know whether I am qualified to discharge the duties with which you have entrusted me but I do know one Win. that I shall try to do it honestly and thereby I hope to add to the dignity of the House and add to the reputation of my community, which has hitherto had at least one thing in its favour. and that is, that It has never stood directly or indirectly against the political progress of my country.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/debates/vol2p5.htm |title= CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY OF INDIA – VOLUME II |date= 25 January 1947 |publisher= parliamentofindia.nic.in |access-date= 29 May 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120505064950/http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/debates/vol2p5.htm |archive-date= 5 May 2012 |url-status= dead }}</ref>}}

{{s-start}}
{{succession box |
before=[[Kailash Nath Katju]]|
title=[[Governor of West Bengal]]|
years=1951–1956|
after=[[Phani Bhusan Chakravartti]]
}}
{{s-end}}

==See also==
* [[Constituent assembly#India|Constituent Assembly – India]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/debates/facts.htm Minorities Sub-Committee – H.C. Mookherjee]
* [http://www.gkpages.com/government/Constitution%20of%20India.php Constituent Assembly : The Minority Community Chairman Mr. Harendra Coomar Mookerjee represented all Christians] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310155747/http://www.gkpages.com/government/Constitution%20of%20India.php |date=10 March 2016 }}
* [http://www.adventistarchives.org/docs/BAM/BAM19590403-V64-07__B.pdf A Mind to Work]{{Dead link|date=December 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303210858/http://voiceofdharma.in/history-of-hindu-christian-encounters/page-5-5 Debate in the Constituent Assembly]
* [http://sangharakshita.org/e-parliament.html Buddhism and the Parliament of Religions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107144641/http://sangharakshita.org/e-parliament.html |date=7 November 2018 }}

{{Governors of West Bengal}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mookerjee, Harendra Coomar}}
[[Category:20th-century Indian civil servants]]
[[Category:Bengali politicians]]
[[Category:Indian Christian religious leaders]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Calcutta]]
[[Category:Surendranath Law College alumni]]
[[Category:Governors of West Bengal]]
[[Category:Members of the Constituent Assembly of India]]
[[Category:1877 births]]
[[Category:1956 deaths]]
[[Category:Bengal MLAs 1937–1945]]

Harendra Coomar Mookerjee - Revision history

HughStoate90988 at 14:21, 23 January 2026