Speak-up Mr President

By abhay mokashi

As the nation celebrates its 73rd Republic Day, it is time to take a look at the role of the President of India and the functioning of the incumbent Head of State.

The President of India does not have major decision-making powers, but the President, while taking the oath of office affirms devotion to the service and well-being of the people of India, and protection and defence of the Constitution.

Under the Constitution, all executive actions are taken in the name of the President of India and the person holding the office of President appoints the Governors of the States, the Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts of the States, of course, this is on the recommendation on the Council of Ministers.

The President is also the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces, a fact the incumbent seems to have overlooked or forgotten.

The President of India is Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Navy and the Air Force of the Union. Unfortunately, the post of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Services has been reduced to being merely decorative, by President Ram Nath Kovind.

Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi has denied in the past, any occupation of Indian territory by China, there is enough evidence to the contrary. For the last few months, when there have been more reports of construction of a village or other encroachments on Indian territory by the Chinese, Modi has muted himself on the subject.

The people of India have a right to know if their land has been encroached upon by China and it would be appropriate for the Supreme Commander-in-Chief to question the government on the situation and let the nation know the real situation. Even if Kovind wants to stand by the Prime Minister, it is his duty to seek information on the situation, not just from the Prime Minister, but from the Chief of Defence Staff too.

In his address to the nation, yesterday, on the eve of the Republic Day, the President referred to the Preamble of the Constitution and also mentioned how “countless families have gone through a harrowing time” due to the COVID 19 pandemic. He also quoted Mahatma Gandhi, who wanted Indians to be better human beings. Unfortunately, these are meaningless words from the President given his silence when people lost jobs due to demonetisation and during the lockdown due to the COVID 19 panedmic.

He remained silent when the migrants suffered, as they walked back thousands of kilometres, to return home during the lockdown.

Most importantly, as the protector of the Constitution and the well-being of the people, he remained silent over mob lynching and calls for genocide against Muslims, Christians and Sikhs. This is not the concept of being a good human being.

The President has the right seek information from the Government and the Prime Minister should keep him informed, if the Prime Minister has failed to keep him posted, he should have summoned the Prime Minister.

Traditionally, the Prime Minister calls on the President occasionally to brief about the decisions of the Government. One does not hear of Modi calling on Kovind. The only time he called on the President in recent times, was a day after he was stranded on the flyover in Punjab for around 20 minutes. For Modi, his security failure was a more serious issue that the issue of farmers, migrants, religious minorities and the like.

President Zail Singh had spoken out against Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s failure to keep him posted about the work of the government. Before becoming the President, Zail Singh was a Congress leader and an ardent follower of Indira Gandhi and a loyalist of the Gandhi family, yet he rose above party loyalty and questioned Rajiv Gandhi. Kovind has to forget that he was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and that Modi was his leader in the party.

Kovind’s silence during the farmers over year-long agitation against the agricultural laws, was deafening. He did not ever feel like questioning the ordinances proclaimed by the Modi government. President Abdul Kalam, who was just a few days in office, sent back an ordinance by the Atal Behari Vajpayee government amending the Representation of People Act, 1951. Kalam pointed out that the provisions of the propose ordinance were not in consonance with the Supreme Court directions in the matter and asked the Cabinet to reconsider the matter.

While it is the tradition that the President’s address to the joint session of the parliament is drafted by the Government, since the President is expected to speak about the achievements of the government and the President’s views and suggestions do not generally find place in the speech. Here again, Kalam suggested the inclusion of some points in his addressed to the joint session of the parliament in 2003. A few paragraphs based on his suggestions were included in the speech. This was possible because the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee agreed to do so.

There can be no comparison between Kalam and Kovind and definitely not between Vajpayee and Modi, the former being known for his intelligence, vast knowledge and a large heart to accept another point of view.

Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, as President of India, had appointed Charan Singh as the Prime Minister of India when Morarji Desai resigned as the Prime Minister. As the Prime Minister, Singh had proposed a few ordinances, but Reddy refused to sign them, stating that a caretaker government (that of Charan Singh) should not be taking major decisions.

There are numerous examples of the refusal of Presidents of India to be mere rubber stamps of government.

It will help the nation, if Kovind does an introspection of his role, duty and functioning as the President of India.