The Republic Day address of President Pratibha Patil makes a reference to India’s young demographic profile, but the special communication with the nation of the first citizen of the land this year lacks freshness, optimism and the can-do spirit. It reads like a harangue. When heard over the radio or television, it is destined to put listeners to sleep. In short, the address lacks pep, it is short on ideas, and it could have done with some style.
To be fair, there is nothing fundamentally misplaced in the President’s speech. And yet the whole thing lacks context. The words therein could have been uttered on any Republic Day. India has been through a roller-coaster this past year on account of shockingly high prices, the overcoming of the negative effect of this to some extent in the past couple of months, public anger against corruption and court trials of high personages, a bruising clash between sections of civil society and the settled institutions of political articulation, the unfolding of the sorry state of our public education and health even as progressive legislation has been enacted in these very areas, the stormy debates surrounding land, its use and its acquisition, and perceived lack of cohesion in the ruling arrangement at the Centre that has produced costs in policy terms. A noticeable plus has been this country’s basic economic strengths and growth story at a time when much in the world is collapsing. It is a pity the President’s address catches none of this, or indeed the essence of these even in an elliptical, bureaucratic way.
Indeed, its most striking aspect is its ceaseless sermonising about moral values, the freedom movement, the spirit of India, the urgency needed to fight poverty, illiteracy and disease, and the promotion of concord. Quite rightly, the President has urged the importance of the Constitution guiding our nation-building process. She has noted that the Constitution is a dynamic and indeed flexible document that must guide the way. She has appropriately spoken of dialogue in resolving difficult issues. Alas, all of this can be said any time of the year in a country like India and on any Republic Day, not this one in particular.
There is a hint of the present just once, briefly. In an apparent reference to the movement against corruption run by a bunch of people imbued with a sense of self-importance, the President urges caution and asks us not to shake the “tree of democracy” so hard that it comes crashing down. She also calls on us to eschew negativism and the spirit of rejection. But that’s about it.