Mukherjee's letter to the British governor of Bengal is evidence to show his support towards the British against the Quit India Movement.
However, the Communists, the Muslim League, and the Hindu Mahasabha did not support the movement and continued cooperating with the British Empire, as per The Wire.
In 1942, when the Quit India movement took momentum, Syama Prasad Mukherjee was the Finance Minister of Bengal and the second most senior leader in the government after Bengal Prime Minister Fazlul Haq. Mukherjee joined the Hindu Mahasabha in 1939, and in 1941, he was elected as the working president of the organization.
Mukherjee, whose party Hindu Mahasabha was cooperating with the colonial government, also helped the British recruit for World War II, the Scroll reported. According to the report, the party had decided to cooperate with the British government.
On July 26, 1942, Mukherjee wrote to the British governor of Bengal, John Herbert, laying out a plan to combat the Congress. "The question is how to combat in Bengal. The administration of the province should be carried on in such a manner that in spite of the best efforts of the Congress, this movement will fail to take root in the province. Indians have to trust British, not for Britain, not for any advantage that the British might gain, but for the maintenance of the defense and freedom of the province itself", Mukherjee wrote in his letter, as quoted by the Quint.
Though critics maintain that Mukherjee betrayed the Quit India movement by joining hands with the British, The Week reports that "declassified documents reveal that his resignation from the provincial cabinet on November 20, 1942, was a result of the brutal crackdown the British administration against Congress leaders.
Mukherjee founded Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the predecessor to Bharatiya Janata Party, in 1951.
Though Mukherjee resigned after the British crackdown on Congress leaders, it is True that he opposed the Quit India Movement and aided the British.
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