A lofty concept, a Governor and unwanted controversy

The Hindu

25-06-2025

A picture of 'Bharat Mata' (Mother India) has triggered a confrontation between the Governor of Kerala and the State government. At a recent function, the Governor had placed a painting of Bharat Mata in the form of a female figure clad in a saffron colour sari with a spear in one hand and standing with a lion behind her against a backdrop of the map of India. The painting had been placed in a room where official functions are held at Raj Bhavan. A tall brass lamp was placed before this garlanded picture. Before any official function begins, the Governor bows before it, offers flowers and lights the lamp. The Chief Minister and other Ministers had raised objections on the grounds that this picture of Bharat Mata is not recognised by the Constitution or any law unlike the national anthem of India or the national flag or other national symbols. Therefore, the government seems to have taken a position that it will not participate in any official function organised by the Governor where this picture is displayed.
The slogan, 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', was the emotional cry of freedom fighters which would electrify the minds of people who were fighting for freedom from colonial rule. And, they used to raise this slogan at the highest pitch when they were subject to lathi blows. Thus, Bharat Mata is one that deeply resonated with the countless millions during India's freedom struggle.
But the question in this issue in Kerala is not whether we should pay obeisance to this image of Bharat Mata. There is no doubt that Indians have a deep and emotional bond with the concept of Bharat Mata. However, in the Kerala episode, the issue is that the Governor has and uses a picture of what is claimed to be Bharat Mata at the venue where official functions organised by the government are held and offers floral tributes to it as a part of the official function.
The conduct of the Governor
Since no picture of Bharat Mata in any form has been recognised by either the Constitution or any law or adopted like the national anthem, the national flag, the national emblem or even the national symbols, such a picture cannot be a part of any official function organised by the government. It may be noted here that this picture of Bharat Mata is used only by the Rashtraiya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party in their functions. The Governor, being the constitutional head of the state, is expected to conduct himself in accordance with the Constitution. The Governor cannot take independent decisions in the performance of his duties and functions but can act only in accordance with the advice of the elected government. So, if the government decides that such pictures should not be placed at the venue of official meetings organised by the government, the Governor is required to go by that decision.
The personification of Bharat Mata as a mother figure was first done by renowned Bengali novelist, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, in his late 19th century work, Anandamath. But the mother symbol he created was Banga Mata (Mother of Bengal) — and not Bharat Mata — and it became the powerful symbol of Bengali nationalism.
But it was Abanindranath Tagore, the nephew of Rabindranath Tagore who first did a painting of the Banga Mata in 1905. This depiction, with four arms, in some ways resembled a Hindu goddess. It was sister Nivedita, a prominent disciple of Swami Vivekananda, who popularised this painting as Bharat Mata. Later, 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' became the most powerful slogan of the national freedom movement but without any visual representation. The national movement never adopted any picture of the Bharat Mata.
A lofty concept
No one has defined the concept of Bharat Mata as brilliantly as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. He explains it in his inimitable style in his Discovery of India: '...sometimes as I reached a gathering a great roar of welcome would greet me: Bharat Mata ki Jai-Victory to Mother India. I would ask them unexpectedly what they meant by that cry, who was this Bharat Mata, whose victory they wanted..... The mountains and the rivers of India and the forest and the broad fields which gave us food were all dear to us, but what counted ultimately were the people of India, people like them and me who were spread out all over this vast land. Bharat Mata, Mother India, was essentially these millions of people and victory to her meant victory to these people.'
It is rather unfortunate that this lofty concept of Bharat Mata has triggered an unseemly controversy involving the Governor of Kerala. Obviously the picture of a female figure in a saffron sari, with a spear in hand and a lion behind her, cannot be a symbol of Bharat Mata. The display of such a picture is a throwback to 19th century nationalism which has no relevance in modern times. Indian nationalism under Gandhi had a strong secular core and was inclusive. Anthropomorphisation of a country is an outdated idea. The diversities, the divisions of Indian society, multiple religions, races, and different levels of cultural developments cannot be represented by such a figure.
Governor versus the government
The country has witnessed too many unseemly fights between Governors and State governments. The Supreme Court of India has intervened in some cases and tried to set things right. Nevertheless the Governor-government spats continue to occur. The Constitution and the interpretations thereon by the Supreme Court have clearly laid down the limits of a Governor's powers and functions. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar had said emphatically in the Constituent Assembly, 'the governor under the constitution has no functions which he can discharge by himself, no functions at all.'
The Raj Bhavan Kerala controversy, deliberate or otherwise, was absolutely unnecessary. It sours the relationship between the Governor and the elected government. In official functions, symbols or logos or other visual representations used by private organisations cannot be used. Raj Bhavan does not merely consist of the private chambers of the Governor. There are rooms and halls where government functions are held such as a swearing-in ceremony as it is done in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The Governor is bound by the advice of the government on, for example, the placing of photographs, portraits in such places and also of performing various actions in an official function such as the lighting of the lamp as in protocol approved by the government. The Governor, for example, cannot order that the picture of Bharat Mata should be placed in all government offices. It is a decision only the government can take. All constitutional authorities are bound by the disciplines of the Constitution. The government has the constitutional right to advise the Governor not to place the picture of Bharat Mata at venues used to conduct official meetings on the ground that such a picture has not been recognised by the Constitution or statutes.
P.D.T. Achary is former Secretary General, Lok Sabha