Governor-government row over ‘Bharat Mata’ assumes a combative dimension

The stand-off between the Kerala Government and Raj Bhavan over the contentious use of the ‘Bharat Mata’ motif at functions attended by Governor Rajendra Arlekar showed scarce signs of easing on Thursday.

Furthermore, it appeared to assume a combative dimension with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan notifying Raj Bhavan that only Constitutionally mandated national symbols were permissible at functions attended by the Governor.

The arguably tense entanglement also seemed to escalate, with the Governor’s office reportedly lodging a formal objection to General Education Minister V Sivankutty’s “protocol-breaching boycott” of an official event attended by Mr. Arlerkar, citing the placement of the ‘Bharat Mata’ motif at the venue. 

Officials said Raj Bhavan had also taken strong exception to the bedlam that broke out on Kerala University Senate Hall premises on Wednesday, where Students Federation of India (SFI) and Kerala Students Union (KSU) activists protested Mr. Arlerkar’s attendance at a function organised by a private trust to observe the 50th anniversary of the Emergency.

Again, the positioning of a Bharat Mata picture, bearing a saffron flag and near a lion, on the stage emerged as the bone of contention.

Officials said the Raj Bhavan communique appeared not to be a riposte to Mr. Vijayan’s letter. They said the letter appeared to stand separate of the issue raised by Mr. Vijayan.

The government had objected to Raj Bhavan’s use of the Bharat Mata motif at official functions on the premise that it was a brazenly non-secular depiction of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) notion of a Hindu Rashtra.

The Cabinet concluded that the Constitutionally mandated protocol set in stone forbids the use of such “political and religious” iconography in State functions.

The Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) found itself in rare agreement with the government. It accused Raj Bhavan of “superseding” national symbols, such as the national flag and the national anthem, by using images and rituals with political and religious overtones and objected to the “unauthorised” practice of paying obeisance to the “RSS’s Bharat Mata portrait” at the Governor’s public functions.

Notably, All India Congress Committee General Secretary (Organisation), K.C. Venugopal, MP, petitioned the President of India against the position of the Kerala Raj Bhavan.

Meanwhile, Raj Bhavan dug its heels in on its stated position that Bharat Mata was emblematic of a unified India and on par with other national symbols.