President of India – Droupadi Murmu

 

President of India – Droupadi Murmu

President Elect Droupadi Murmu

The wheel has come full circle. Droupadi Murmu, a worthy tribal lady and a symbol of the marginalized sections of the society, has been declared as the President Elect on July 21 and would take the solemn oath of office on July 25 to be the Mahamahim of Bharat, the first citizen of India and the symbol of the nation. Why I say that the
wheel has come full circle in the 75th anniversary of our freedom and the year of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’? – Mahatma Gandhi desired to make a lady of the depressed and oppressed segments of the country to be the first President of India in 1947 itself as written by the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Raj Mohan Gandhi in his book 'Why Gandhi Still Matters: An Appraisal of the Mahatma's Legacy'. According to the book, the proposal for a Dalit as the first President was sparked off by the death of a "talented" young Dalit from Andhra Pradesh, Chakrayya, who was living with Gandhi at Sevagram Ashram from its inception. Mahatma Gandhi said on 2 June 1947 at a Prayer meeting that he wanted to make Chakrayya the President of India but that was not to be. Again on June 27, 1947 at a public meeting Mahatma reiterated his wish and said, ‘If I have my way, the President of Indian Republic will be a chaste and brave Bhangi girl.” He sounded his associates like Nehru, Patel and others but they turned it down by terming it as a “radial suggestion” as written by Raj Mohan Gandhi. Babasaheb Ambedkar termed the exalted position of the President of India as ‘He represents the nation but does not rule the nation’. Ambedkar was also a protagonist of women power and desired them to be around in building the county and reforming the society. He said, “I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved. Unity is meaningless without the accompaniment of women. Education is fruitless without educated women and agitation is incomplete without the strength of women.” Droupadi Murmu’s elevation to Raisina Hill from a remote village Rairangpur in Orisha is remarkable in a sense that it a big stride towards the vision of Mahatma Gandhi and Babasaheb Ambedkar. Nalin Mehta in an article ‘A new social evolution dawns on the Republic’ in the Hindustan Times of July 22 rightly said, “A woman tribal as President is a logical step forward and a major milestone in Indian politics.” “We the people of India” have made it and India remains on track. It is a matter of gratification to note. Congratulations.

With President KR Narayanan in Beijing (China)

 Over the years, philosophers, scholars, politicians, statesmen, diplomats, scientists from Rajendra Prasad to Ram Nath Kovind representing various religions, different ideological belief, both the gender, diversified socio-economic and cultural backgrounds adorned the high office of the President of India – The Mahamahim of India that is Bharat. It is my pleasure and honour to add here that during the course of my diplomatic career, I have had the opportunity to see, meet and interact with some of the Mahamahims – Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Dr.Shankar Dayal Sharma, Giani Zail Singh, K.R.Narayanan, Pratibha Patil, APJ Abdul Kalam and Ram Nath Kovind - and I cherish those moments and memories. I wrote this, not long ago, on June 18, 2022 in one of my blogs. I also commented in one of my Facebook entries that on coming to know the candidature of Droupadi Murmu, her opponent, Yashwant Sinha should have withdrawn from the contest in all magnanimity and pragmatic arithmetic having registered the opposition’s principled opposition to the ruling dispensation. Perhaps we are yet to learn the finer nuances of parliamentary democracy and conduct ourselves with ‘constitutional morality’ the much need attribute of good politics.

President Elect, Droupadi Murmu, 64, is fully qualified and competent to adorn the high office of Mahamahim, the President of India. He is a University Graduate with a wide spread experience – Teacher, Councilor, MLA, Minister in Orisha, Governor of Jharkhand and occupied various positions of authority and responsibility in the BJP. As the youngest President of India, she will be the second lady occupant of the majestic Rashtrapati after Pratibha Patil and will be the third dignitary from the weaker sections of the society to reach the heights of the Raisina Hills in the Luyten’s Delhi, the seat of power of India, in toe of K.R. Narayanan and Ram Nath Kovind. I feel good by adding that I have had the honour to know and interact with the Mahamahims, Narayanan and Kovind. President K.R. Narayanan was my boss as Ambassador of

Kamla and Kumar at Rashtrapati Bhawan

India to China in 1977-78 and President Ram Nath Kovind and her gracious wife Savita are the family friends of my sister Kamla and brother-n-law (Behnoi) Kumar and as such Savita Behn and her daughter honoured us by joining at the marriage of my daughter Vaishali at Jalandhar in December, 2001 and my son Rupesh attended the marriage reception of the scion of the first family of India when Kovind Sahib was an MP. Subsequently President Ram Nath Kovind Sahib visited our family home in Jalandhar as an MP and Head of the

President at our family home in Jalandhar

SC Morcha of BJP in mid 2010s. It is a matter of satisfaction that both Narayanan Sahib and Kovind Sahib did full justice to the highest job of the country under trying circumstances during their respective tenures. I am confident that the President Elect, Droupadi Murmu would prove herself and bring further laurels to the office of the President of India. PM Narendra Modi while congratulating her rightly said, “India scripts history…a daughter of India hailing from a tribal community born in a remote part of eastern India has been elected our President.”

I would conclude this piece with a somewhat prognostic note. It goes without saying that these political and strategic gestures of political parties to give these ‘symbolic’ positions to the competent nominees from the weaker sections of the society go a long way in promoting the agenda of ‘affirmative action’ and ‘empowerment’ as visualized by our forefathers and rightly so. I was told by one of my friends, Prem Shant, a close confidant of Babu Kanshi Ram that in the mid 1990s, PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee offered the position of President of India to Kanshi Ram to succeed President Shankar Dayal Sharma but he turned down the gesture by saying that he was more interested in pursuing his agenda and mission to get due share in the political structures and corridors of power for the ‘Bahujans’ rather than comfortably sitting in the palatial Rashtrapati Bhawan. I Googled to

check the veracity of this anecdote and it was confirmed in a story in the Nav Bharat Times of March 22, 2022. Let us hope that a day would come when a dalit or a tribal would, too, occupy the coveted position in the South Block and 7 and reside at Lok Kalyan Marg (Race Course Road) with or without another Ambedkar or Kanshi Ram. It would be a big leap forward to transform our political democracy into a social and economic democracy as visualized by Babasaheb Ambedkar. Political wonders do happen.

Hearty congratulations to the President Elect Droupadi Murmu and all the best wishes to the outgoing President, Ram Nath Kovind and Savita Behn.

Postscript: Without comment -

Claim: B. R. Ambedkar said – “The day a tribal woman becomes the President of India (the highest office), the reservation should be abolished in the country”

Fact: No evidence was found on the internet to confirm that Ambedkar made that statement. He made no such comments either in the Constitutional Assembly debates or in his books. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.