The First Citizen

Saturday, 07 January 2006 00:00

Former president of India, Kocheril Raman Narayanan, who died on November 9th 2005, was refused a guaranteed teaching job despite standing First in English literature from the University of Travancore and was offered a clerks job instead. The local Maharajah refused to see him for the same reason, that he was an “untouchable”. Mr. Narayanan boycotted the degree ceremony; the honours were conferred upon him 50 years later with full respect.

His scholastic brilliance won him scholarship at London School of Economics. After his studies, his mentor Harold Laski recommended him to Jahawarlal Nehru with a letter of introduction. Mr. Nehru, India’s first prime minister gave him a job in diplomatic services. He was the Indian ambassador to Thailand, Turkey, China and later a political appointee to the US. He entered politics on Congress ticket as a Member of Parliament from Kerala in 1984. He was nominated as the country’s vice- president in 1992 and took the top job after 5 years. As an unprecedented move, he queued up to vote in the country's general election in 1998. On constitutional grounds, he twice questioned the government’s move to sack state governments. He also differed with the tradition and insisted that the largest party to emerge after an election must show the evidence of a parliamentary majority before forming the Government as expected then.

In 2002, his final year in office, President Narayanan wanted the army to intervene during the communal rioting in Gujarat. In an interview, in the year of his demise, he complained that his plan had been spoiled by the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party, and also accused them of blocking his second term as president.

He once said that his life encapsulated the ability of the democratic system to accommodate and empower marginalised sections of the society but the march of society, of social change, has not been fast enough, or fundamental enough.

It is true that social change which should have automatically empowered the weaker sections of the society has been an issue of party politics than intention of public conscience. India needs dramatic changes, so as to give confidence to the weaker sections of the society, so that they can contribute towards the development of the country without a tinge of suppression. Political parties should be bold enough to withstand this change amongst themselves if they so desire to see India to be a real secular country in the world. We must motivate the marginalised people so much so that we should practically be able to eradicate caste system so imprinted upon the social psyche.

The media also needs to change the way they report the success of the weak. Mr. Narayanan worried that he would always be remembered as the “India’s first dalit President”. If we cannot abstain from using such remarks while glorifying the enormity of the success of the weak, no doubt this stigma would travel beyond the border. Let’s have a change in our system so that, the next time we get a President from a similar background and if he happens to visit France on official visit, let’s hope Le Figaro, its national daily will not call him “An untouchable at the Elysée” again.