Should she be addressed as Rashtrapati?

NEW DELHI: Should Pratibha Patil be addressed as ‘Rashtrapati’ if she becomes the first woman President. The nomination of the Rajasthan Governor for the top Constitutional post has sparked a debate, particularly as the Hindi media is in a dilemma on usage of the nomenclature.

As the media remains in a fix, some constitutional experts and literatteurs see nothing wrong in the nomenclature being used, arguing that the word “rashtrapati” is a constitutional one and does not have any gender connotations.

However, women activists have a different take on the issue as they see the name of the Constitutional post as “patriarchal” and “gender-biased”. The word president translated into Hindi means ‘Rashtrapati’ and there is nothing wrong in this and no need to change the word, says Constitutional expert Subhash Kashyap.

“Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson Najma Heptullah was always addressed as ‘Upsabhapati’ and thus Patil can also be called ‘Rashtrapati Mahodaya’,” Kashyap said. “Patil herself has been deputy chairperson of the Upper House and was addressed in similar manner,” he said.

Agreeing with this contention, noted Hindi literrateur Ashok Vajpayee said there is no need for a change in the name of the post if a woman occupies it.

“Under no circumstances should she be addressed as ‘rashtrapatni’,” he said. Women activist Ranjana Kumari favoured a national debate on the subject to evolve a consensus on whether the name needs to be changed. “The word is both gender biased and patriarchal,” she said.

Noted journalist Prabhash Joshi said during the freedom movement, “the Congress President was addressed as the ‘Rashtrapati’ and that is why it figured in the constitution as President. Sarojini Naidu and other Congress leaders who had been party presidents have been called ‘Rashtrapatis.”