Honor by Compromise!
Ladies & Gentleman, presenting to you the most likely President of India, Ms. Pratibha Patil! Who? What? Don't feel bad, just like you, many of us were scratching our heads and flogging our memory cells to recollect who this person is. I would most likely believe, so were the majority of the media sirens, who in their constant debate of presidential hopefuls, were delivered a googly, that they were really trying hard to stay on feet by gathering some facts about this women and tried to salvage some videos and pictures from their vaults. This woman sure would not have hit the top of their PageRank when they did a search of their archives.
So, is this really a historic moment (finally!) towards women empowerment in this nation, as being propounded by all the politicians, as we celebrate 60th year of our independence? Even Shoba De could not take so much pride on this occasion, as she cried foul over Pratibha Patil being used as a symbolic gesture, as there was an utter lack of consensus among the UPA partners. Even though I tend to disagree with majority of her comments, this one I could not, when Pratibha Patil appears on all accounts to be a mere compromise candidate at the fag end of heated negotiations among the UPA constituents. What are her advantages? Gender advantage, of course, she is from Maharashtra, a staunch Indira loyalist and, not the least, she is from the Shekhawati community which can put the other likely candidate, the current Vice President, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, at some unease.
Who really is Pratibha Patil? Try googling her name and you could find majority of the hits being about her sudden rise in prominence over the past few days. Even most of the details in the wiki seem to be updated later to Jun 14th. A good portion of the comments that flood the web recognizing the concept of a woman reaching the echelons of constitutional authority of this nation also seem to act with a sense of skepticism. That's precisely my point, so much as Shoba De's. I am entirely for women ruling the world, if one can orbit around our planet for so many days and break all sorts of records, why not to fill-in a rubber stamp position in our nation as well?
What put me off is the way in which the women folk got this so called recognition on this particular instance. Look at the names that were doing the rounds and the reasons why they were shot down, before this magnanimous gesture by Sonia Gandhi. Pranab Mukherjee - no we need his excellent maneuvering skills to work around the UPA coalition to somehow sustain two more years in office - even though the toughest component of the UPA - the Left - liked his candidature. Dr. Karan Singh - in spite of his excellent scholarly credentials was too theistic for the Left. Shivraj Patil - no way - too congressy for the Left and others. Sushil Kumar Shinde - in spite of carrying the most trusted brand name among the politico - a Dalit - was even despised by another dalit CM, Mayawati.
There emerged Pratibha Patil, bolt from the blue in the face of near ignominy for the congress, as a gender-based consensus candidate. As if Sonia saying, at least let the congress men have their say in picking someone of the preferred last name and 'see if you can counter this and do so at your own peril'. As a candidate of mere symbolism, where credentials and stature appear to have been so blatantly ignored. Except for the intuitive interview by CPI's Bardhan on CNN IBN, no where did I ever read or hear about the magnanimity of the political parties in planning to recognize the woman folk for the highest ceremonial office in our land. If all we were concerned about was giving the woman folk its due recognition, what has changed in the last four years when we could not do that to a Captain Lakshmi Sehgal?
Agreed, this role at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan itself is more allegorical, so why not utilize the opportunity to showcase yourself as a savior of equality, with the elections just a couple of years away. With all indications of yet another coalition government, why not have someone who can go soft - as characterized of a typical Indian woman folk - when it comes to government formation in another two years. Whatever the reason might be, call me a hypocrite, the way to the top for the woman folk in this nation still happens to as an 'why not?' rather than by pure merit. Playing in the sentiments of the politicians who have mastered these skills of divide, unduly recognize and rule, can only make the case even more dubious. Till that time, I am really not sure if having a Pratibha at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan would be considered the height of acclamation for the woman folk.
Sorry Ladies!
