‘Rashtrapatni’ row: The debate on how the President should be addressed dates back to 1947

Jul 29, 2022 - 11:30

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‘Rashtrapatni’ row: The debate on how the President should be addressed dates back to 1947

A seemingly new word has entered India’s political lexicon – “Rashtrapatni”. That’s how Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury referred to President Droupadi Murmu and it has snowballed into a war of words between his patty, the Congress, and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Chowdhury said it was a slip of the tongue and that he was ready to apologise to the President but that was not enough to placate the BJP. There was an uproar in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on Thursday, the most vocal being Minister of Minority Affairs Smriti Irani and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Irani and Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi had a heated exchange, which has blown up into a controversy of its own. The two BJP ministers demanded that Gandhi and Chowdhury need to apologise.

Irani accused the party of “humiliating” the President; Sitharaman said it was a “sexist insult”. Now the National Commission for Women has stepped in, issuing a notice to Congress MP Chowdhury and seeking a written apology against the “derogatory” remark.

Also read: Rashtrapatni, kiraye ke tattu, and more: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is Congress’ ‘foot-in-mouth’ leader

Murmu is not India’s first woman President – she is the second. Prathiba Patil was the first woman Head of State and supreme commander of the armed forces. Did this debate now take place then?
And how should a President be addressed? We take a look.

Is Rashtrapti gender-neutral?

Chowdhury’s remark has ignited a debate over the title “Rashtrapati” and whether it is gender neutral. Even when Patil became President in 2007, there was a discussion on how she should be addressed. Was Rashtrapati a correct way to address a woman Head of the State or did it have a “male connotation”?

However, it was agreed that words like Rashtrapati (President) and Sabhapati (Speaker) were gender-nuetral.

The time of Prathiba Patil

The speculation started when Patil was nominated by the United Progressive Alliance as its presidential candidate for the 2007 election. “Rashtrapatni” was a suggestion that cropped up but it remained just that. “Rashtramata” was also proposed but it was reportedly objected to by activists and feminists, who thought using such terms for the post was “patriarchal” and “gender-biased”, according to a report in The Indian Express.

Back then constitutional experts and litterateurs said that there was nothing wrong with the nomenclature being used, arguing that the word “Rashtrapati” is a constitutional term and does not have any gender connotations. The word president translated to Hindi means Rashtrapati and it was agreed that there was no need to change it.

Constitutional expert Subhash Kashyap told PTI in 2007, “Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson Najma Heptullah was always addressed as ‘Upsabhapati’ and thus Patil can also be called ‘Rashtrapati Mahodaya’”. He had pointed out that Patil herself has been deputy chairperson of the Upper House and was addressed similarly.

According to The Indian Express, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray who was backing Patil’s nomination had suggested in an article in the party mouthpiece Saamna in June 2007, that “Pratibhatai should be called Rashtradhyaksh”. I feel that there is no need for a ‘Pati’ or ‘Patni’, Pratibhatai should be called Rashtradhyaksh,” he wrote.

An amendment from 1947

But even before Patil’s time as President, a discussion over the word “Rashtrapati” ensued.

During a Constituent Assembly debate, in July 1947, an amendment called for replacing the word “Rashtrapati” with “neta” or “karandhar”. However, it was not pursued further as a committee was to look into it. Later, it was decided to continue with “Rashtrapati” as the Hindi word for President of India, reports PTI.

As the debate resurfaced in December 1948, Dr BR Ambedkar referred to various terms used in the draft Constitution in different languages. While the English draft proposed the word “President”, the Hindustani draft talked about “Hind ka ek President”, using “Hind” for the name of the country and “President” for the top-most post.

The Hindi draft, interestingly, used the word “Pradhan” and not Rashtrapati, while the Urdu draft used “Sardar”, Ambedkar had said.

Constituent Assembly member from Bihar KT Shah, during the debate, had called for referring to the President of India as “the Chief Executive and Head of the State”. Shah’s amendment was rejected after some members vehemently opposed it, reports PTI.

In his reply, Ambedkar had said, “I do not doubt what he means by the introduction of these words. Chief Executive and Head of the State is to introduce the American presidential form of executive and not the Parliamentary form of the executive which is contained in this Draft Constitution.”

In the end, Jawaharlal Nehru suggested that the term Rashtrapati should be finalised.

The debate reignited

However, in the past 75 years, a lot has changed. After the furore over the “Rashtrapatni” remark, the call for a more gender-neutral term by women’s rights activists has started gathering steam.

Social activist and human rights campaigner Shabnam Hashmi said that there should be a gender-neutral term for president like it is for a chairperson. “Mantri also doesn’t reflect gender but the moment you say ‘pati’ and ‘patni’ there are other connotations too,” she said.

But not everyone agrees.

Ranjana Kumari, a social activist and the director of the Centre for Social Research, said whether male or female, the president has similar power and authority. “So I don’t understand why people are confused.” “But if at all the government wants a gender-neutral term they can call it “rashtrapradhan”. But I don't see why we should look at rashtrapati as a gender-loaded term because “pati” is not really anyone’s husband here… so I don’t see the reason for controversy,” she told PTI.

Congress leader Manish Tewari criticised Chowdhury and said that there was no point in getting lost in the maze of gender.

Lady or Gentleman anyone occupying a constitutional office is equally Hon’ble. Respect has to be given & should be accorded too that institution. Any person on a particular position becomes analogous too or with that office. No point in getting lost in the maze of gender.
— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) July 29, 2022

“Lady or Gentleman anyone occupying a constitutional office is equally Hon’ble. Respect has to be given & should be accorded to that institution,” he wrote on Twitter.

Author Anand Ranganathan wrote on Twitter, “Rashtrapati is gender neutral just like Governor. Ms Droupadi Murmu was not called Governess Murmu.”

Rashtrapati is gender neutral just like Governor. Ms Droupadi Murmu was not called Governess Murmu.
And this jackfruit Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury never called Ms Pratibha Patil as Upsabhapatni or Rashtrapatni when she was the Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson or the President of India.
— Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) July 28, 2022