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Opinion

The Father of the Nation Controversy

Dr. Ratan Bhattacharjee 8/17/2012 10:19:06 PM

The founding myths of many
nations regard all the peo
ple as descendants of a progenitor, who is often eponymous. Father of
the Nation is an honorific title given to a man considered the driving
force behind the establishment of their country, state ornation. Pater
Patriae also seen as Parens Patriae, was a Roman honorific meaning
"Father of the Fatherland", bestowed by the Senate on heroes, and
later on emperors.
On the sixty sixth Independence Day, we may muse on the title 'Father
of the Nation'. If not asked I know who is Father of the Nation, but
if asked I know not. This is officially a ten year old question
because of the RTI plea of class VI student of City Montessori School,
Rajajipuram branch, Lucknow, Aishwarya Parashar to the National
Archives of India. Jayaprabha Ravindran, assistant director of
archives and chief public information officer (CPIO) wrote back in a
letter dated March 26: "As per search among public records in the
National Archives of India, there are no specific documents on the
information sought by you."
When a demand to confer the title of 'Father of the Indian
Constitution' on Dr Ambedkar was made, deputy prime minister LK
Advani, in a letter to Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit in 2004,
had written: "It is not, however, feasible to formally confer the
title of 'Father of Indian Constitution' on Dr Ambedkar, since Article
18 (1) of the Constitution specifically provides that "no title, not
being a military or academic distinction, shall be conferred by the
state."
Mahatma Gandhi is popularly known as "Father of the Nation," but no
such title was ever formally conferred on him by the government. It
was Subhas Chandra Bose who used the term for Mahatma Gandhi, in a
radio address from Singapore in 1944. Later, it was recognised by the
Indian government. Thereafter on April 28, 1947 Gandhi was referred
with the same title by Sarojini Naidu at a conference. When Gandhi was
assassinated, India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, in a
radio address to the nation, had announced that the Father of the
Nation "is no more."
No such controversy rises in officially calling Jinnah 'Father of the
Nation'. Jinnah said , "I have lived as plain Mr. Jinnah and I hope to
die as plain Mr. Jinnah. I am very much averse to any title or honours
and I will be more than happy if there was no prefix to my name." But
Jinnah is popularly and officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-i-Azam
(Great Leader") and Baba-i-Qaum ("Father of the Nation").
Pakistan was carved out of the British India as an independent
sovereign country to serve the aspirations of 700 million Muslims that
opted to be part of it. Pakistanis view Jinnah as their revered
founding father, a man that was dedicated to safeguarding Muslim
interests during the dying days of the British Raj. Despite any of a
range of biases, Jinnah is universally recognized as central to the
creation of Pakistan.
Were there doubts about Mahatma Gandhi? His staunch opponent Subhas
Chandra Bose had no such doubts. Gandhi was at that time interned at
Agha Khan's palace at Pune and Kasturba passed away on 22 February,
1944. Concerned about Gandhiji, Netaji sent the following message to
the Mahatma on Azad Hind Radio, Rangoon on 4th June, 1944.
"...........Nobody would be more happy than ourselves if by any chance
our countrymen at home should succeed in liberating themselves through
their own efforts or by any chance, the British Government accepts
your `Quit India' resolution and gives effect to it. We are, however
proceeding on the assumption that neither of the above is possible and
that a struggle is inevitable. Father of our Nation in this holy war
for India's liberation we ask for your blessings and good wishes."
This message shows Netaji's reverence and warm feelings towards
Gandhiji. Some feel that there are some technical problems in
officially calling him Father of Nation. Pakistan is a new nation born
after Independence. But India that is Bharat as we know today has
emerged out of an old civilization. There are many queries if Gandhi
could be called the Father of an ancient civilization like ours.
One argument is there in favour of Gandhi being conferred the title.
The multi cultural and multi ethnic country became a Nation-State
owing allegiance to one Constitution, one flag and one Governemnt only
on August 15, 1947. Mahatma Gandhi who crystallized about him the
living forces of this new land may be officially called the Father of
the Nation as Jinnah is in Pakistan. People of India saw a Father
figure in Gandhi and he was the 'Bapu' to them.
Coherence or consistency are not hallmarks of Gandhian thinking. And
it is not enough to gloss this as indicative of flexibility or lack of
dogma. It is a serious criticism of Jinnah, for example, to state that
he did not have a clear conception of the Pakistan that he fought for,
whether it was meant to be a Muslim –majority secular and democratic
state or one whose political order was founded on Islam. Many of
Pakistan's problems today can be traced to this failure at conception.
Likewise, Gandhian fuzziness and lack of clarity have had severe
negative consequences for India. Its later variant has been the
trademark hypocrisy of Indian politicians for which not accidentally,
the iconic image in popular culture is the bumbling figure in a Gandhi
cap. This is a distant cry from the Father of Nation concept. No such
thing happened in Pakistan's concept of Father of the Nation.

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