A 17.5-metre high statue of BJP ideologue Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, his first in Jammu and Kashmir, was unveiled in Kathua district Saturday, coinciding with his 118th birth anniversary.Union minister Jitendra Singh unveiled the statue at a ceremony, attended by senior BJP leaders National vice-president Avinash Rai Khanna, National Secretary and former MP Maheish Girri, state president Ravinder Raina and assembly speaker Nirmal Singh, a party spokesman said.
“Although Mookerjee was not born in Jammu and Kashmir, his sacrifice in the state gave a message that the nation and its interests were paramount for an Indian and that there should be no barrier in relations between the Union of India and this border state,” Singh, who is Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, told a gathering after unveiling the statue.