Uma Prasad Mookerjee (1902-1997), the third son of Shri Asutosh Mookerjee was a leading litterateur and thinker and an indefatigable traveller in the Himalayas. Uma Prasad had popularised the genre of travel writing much before it had picked up in Bengali literary circles. His travel albums of the Himalayas made him a household name in Bengal. In 1928, Uma Prasad trekked to Uttaranchal and in 1934 to Man Sarovar. Close to artistic and literary giants of his era, such as Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay and Abanindranath Tagore, Uma Prasad’s classic travelogue of the Himalayas, Manimahesh won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1971. Had it not been for him, perhaps no record, or documents related to Dr. Mookerjee’s arrest, detention and death in Kashmir, would have existed.

Dr. Anirban Ganguly, is Director, Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation, New Delhi.