
RashtraPati to RashtraAdhyaksh or RashtraPramukh


We want to change addressing of the President of India from RashtraPati to either RashtraAdhyaksh or RashtraPramukh. Since Indian constitution was first written in English and then translated to Hindi and other languages, this translation was carried on. Even though 'President' is a neutral title, 'RashtraPati' is not. Unfortunately, our frames did not foresee a woman president of India during the making of the constitution. This has already happened! Though, no earth had fallen, it was very strange to address Mrs. Pratibha Patil as 'RashtraPati'. I have talked to many people from all walks of life about it and all of us feel the same way. Some tried to explain it away as 'Pati' means the 'head', and not a 'husband'. That may be true, but the word 'pati' is exclusively used for 'husband' in our common language except for when it used in religious context. Especially, when we have a choice of much better word to describe this position appropriately, having a gender neutral title such as RashtraAdhyaksha or RashtraPramukh makes more sense. This would be a much more comfortable title.
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