Rashtrapati is 'gender neutral' like ‘Crorepati and Lakhpati’

  The credit for coining the words like ‘Rashtrapati’, ‘Shri’ and ‘Shrimati’ for the ‘President of India’, ‘Mr’ and ‘Mrs’ go to famous Hindi journalist  Baburao Vishnu Paradkar when he was the editor of the daily Aaj of Varanasi. Hindi journalism has produced six great editors- Baburao Vishnu Paradkar, Rajaram Khadilkar, Lakshman Narain Garde, Ambika Prasad Vajpayee, Pandit Kamla Pati Tripathi and Vidyabhaskar. Pandit Kamlapati Tripathi later left journalism to become an active politician. This group was later known as ‘Five Greats of Hindi journalism. Incidentally, all of them had their roots in Kashi and some association with Calcutta. The first three of them were Marathi speaking and the last one Pandit Vidyabhaskar was Telugu speaking. Only Ambika Prasad Vajpayee and Pt Kamla Pati Tripathi belonged to the Hindi heartland. It must be mentioned here that Hindi journalism was born in Calcutta, and it was from here Pandit Jugal Kishore Shukla brought out ‘Udant Martand’, the first Hindi newspaper in Devnagari script in 1826.

There was a big debate that why the President of India should be called ‘Rashtrapati’ and what will happen if any lady becomes the President. Pandit Kamlapati Tripathi, who was also a renowned journalist and politician, was also consulted on this issue. He is reported to have sided with Paradkar ji that the ‘Rashtrapati’ could not be gender specific. The words ‘Pati’ and ‘Patni’ are used in almost all Indian languages. Therefore, the excuse offered by the Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury over calling Draupadi Murmu Rashtrapatni instead of Rashtrapati because of his being a non-Hindi knowing person is lame and unconvincing.
As a matter of fact, the use of the word Pati in Rashtrapati is in the sense of ‘Swami’ (Lord) as those of ‘Crorepati’ and ‘Lakhpati’, which is applicable for both genders. ‘Shri’ means ‘Lakshmi, which connotes feminine gender, Paradkar ji gave a very convincing logic that a male person can be addressed as ‘Shriyut’, ‘Shriman’ or ‘Shri’ (Blessed with Lakshmi), which is much better than that of ‘Mister’ or ‘Mr’. A woman having the qualities of the Lakshmi would be called ‘Shrimati’. However, this word became rigid to be used only for married women and unmarried women got to be addressed as ‘Kumari’.
This dilemma continued for the post of Pradhanmantri for some time also when Mrs Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister. Some overjealous Hindi enthusiasts initially addressed her as ‘Pradhanmantrani’. But thanks again to Kashi journalists, this tangle was resolved, and it was made sure that there would be no distortion of the word ‘Pradhanmantri’ regardless of the gender of the person holding the post. This dilemma continues even in the Supreme Court and High Courts, where some of the Advocates address the lady judges as ‘Your Ladyship. This controversy can be resolved only when a gender-neutral word like ‘Your Honour’, Sir or Madam is used for both male and female judges. The same is also true about "Rajyapal' and 'Rashtrapita' ( father of the nation).  

Annual Conference of Darshan Parishad at Azamgarh will provide impetus to locals

    My friend Ravindra Nath Tripathi, an Advocate practising in the courts of Azamgarh has sent me an invite to the annual conference of Uttar Bharat Darshan Parishad, which is being organised on the campus of the prestigious Children College and Schools of Azamgarh. In a way, it is the most appropriate place to hold this annual conference. This conference will impel the new generation of students to develop and broaden the horizon of their rational thinking. It is situated a few kilometres away from the din and bustle of the town in a tranquil ambience of the village Belaisa. It is being held for three days from 15^th to 17^th July. Azamgarh is the land of Rishi Duravasa. A village named after Rishi Durvasa is located on the confluence of rivers-Tamsa and Majhui and it has acquired the status of a pious pilgrim centre, where people from far-off places assemble for three days in the month Kartik for holy dips in the Sangam.

     Azamgarh has been systematically impoverished by the Moghuls and Britishers. It is said that the water of the river Tamsa has the ingredients of rebellion, which is traced back to Rishi Durvasa. It was the centre of the first war of Independence of 1857. It finds mention in the famous book of Vir Savarkar, wherein he described the valour and the bravery of the people under the leadership of Babu Kunwar Singh, who had set up his camp at Atraulia some 35 km away in the west of Azamgarh while marching towards Lucknow.

   Azamgarh, as the name suggests was found in 1665 by Azam, son of Vikramajit Singh. Vikramajit Singh was a descendant of Gautam Rajput of Mehnagar, who had embraced Islam. He had a Muslim wife who bore him two sons Azam and Azmat. While Azam gave his name to the town of Azamgarh. Azmat constructed the fort and settled the bazaar Azmatgarh of Pargana Sagri. Another Bais Muslim Rajput, Shibli Nomani worked hard for Pan Islamism and set up the famous Shibli National College and Darul Mussanfin in Azamgarh. His brothers were educated in England and one of them became the Judge of the Allahabad High Court.

   Shibli Nomani had although taught at Aligarh Muslim University yet had serious differences with Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and always found the atmosphere of the Aligarh intellectually very suffocating. Shibli was inspired by the progress of science and education in the West, but his attitude was sectarian and not broad-based.

   The name of Kedarnath Pandey aka Rahul Sankrityayan, known for his itinerary and philosophical writings is also associated with it. But those who gave new heights to literature and philosophy were Pandit Ayodhya Singh Upadhyay Hariaudh, Pandit Shyam Narayan Pandey and Pandit Channu Lal Mishra. My classmate at Banaras Hindu University and aficionado of Indian Philosophy Dr RK Mishra, who expired last year due to COVID would have been the happiest person to have participated in this philosophical congregation as he, like me, also belonged to Azamgarh. Although I am in not able to participate in the programme due to many reasons, it would have been a celebratory occasion for me as it was going to provide a good opportunity to meet and listen to philosophical expositions of scholars. Moreover, it is being held in Azamgarh, where eminent thinker-teacher of Philosophy Dr Sabhajit Mishra is being honoured by the Parishad.

  Bhai Ravindra Nath ji, I send my best wishes for the roaring success of the annual conference, being organised under the illustrious guidance of Professor Bajrang Tripathi.

Parmanand Pandey

 

 

 

S C Must Clear its Obiter Dicta Observations in Nupur’s Case

Lord Atkin has said ‘justice is not a cloistered virtue, she must be allowed to suffer the scrutiny and respectful, even though outspoken, comments of ordinary men. That is why the oral observations of the Supreme Court in Nupur Sharma’s Transfer Petition must be allowed to be freely commented upon by the public. In fact, the observations are not only uncalled for and unwarranted but highly disturbing. If the Supreme Court was so troubled with what Nupur Sharma had said in the heat of a TV debate, it should have been recorded in the order sheet but the SC rather preferred to lecture orally on her conduct. This obiter dicta comment ought to have been avoided by the judges because it will adversely affect Nupur Sharma in getting justice. Although obiter dicta are legally not binding on the courts below, it will certainly be cited to persuade and prejudice the mind of judges of lower court judges.

A transfer petition is normally filed by the litigants for transferring the case from one High Court or court to another High Court or court in the interest of justice and to save them from unnecessary harassment. It is filed under Article 139(2) of the Constitution of India Section 25 of the CPC and 406 of the CrPC on the expediency of justice. But here the Supreme Court’s observations in the case of the transfer petition of Nupur Sharma from different courts of the country to a competent court in Delhi have made a mockery of justice. The SC has literally pronounced the judgment without any evidence, recording of evidence or cross-examination. The judges have committed grievous injury to the dispensation of justice. If the judges were so perturbed with her statement, they should have recorded their concern in the order sheet and disallowed or dismissed the petition but their fulminations were totally unrelated to the case and if this practice is adopted by the Supreme Court, then there will be chaos in the justice delivery system.

This oral but heavily loaded political lecturing from the pulpit of the Supreme Court is a cause for huge concern for the country. If the case did not deserve to have been transferred, the court should have decided it on its merit. But it was an extraneous and off-the-tangent observation, which is bound to send a wrong message across the country. To say that Nupur Sharma was intoxicated with power is totally unbecoming of the Supreme Court because the whole country looks at it for guidance and appropriate decisions on the facts and the legal position of the case. How could be she held to be single-handedly responsible for the vitiating the atmosphere in the country or the killing of a tailor in Udaipur by Jihadists? In this manner, every Jihadi including Osama Bin Laden could blame somebody for the destruction of the twin towers in America. Kashmiri Pandits could be blamed for what happened to them in Kashmir.

The Supreme Court was to decide about the transfer of the case and not who is guilty of the killing of the Udaipur tailor. The Supreme Court has undoubtedly overreached its jurisdiction. It would do well to take up the case suo moto and remove all misunderstandings which have spread across the country by its oral observations.