The Father of The Nation; Image Source: Public Domain

medium_slide_14.jpg

small_slide_14.jpg

thumbnail_slide_14.jpg

slide_14.jpg

Though Indians don't really celebrate Father's Day except for in pockets that have been highly influenced by western culture, we value fathers more than anywhere else in the world. Our collective societies see fathers as the highest power in a family, a society, and in the world of men. Fathers hold our fingers and lead us from darkness to the light.

Think about the person who is referred to as the Father of Nation? The honour attested to this title, the respect and love of an entire country towards a single man who is seen as ahead of the entire nation family is unimaginable. Even more beyond someone's capacity to understand is the roles and responsibilities of the father towards his countrymen, his many children.

As a guiding light he must have been responsible and the driving force behind building this country step by step, leading to becoming in its truest essence the father of the Nation. Only four men in the world have been great enough to be called the Father of the Nation. They were Sukarno, Cyrus the Great, Jinnah, and in the small part of the globe, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. 

Who better man than Mahatma? See by many as a holy figure, Gandhi was bestowed with this title on this day in 1944. It was not his participation in the freedom movements but with his very being, the inspiration that he was, and the zeal he filled in people that it was made official that he was, after all, the nation's father.

> Much before he was officially given the title by the Constitution of Free India, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose referred to him as Bapu in a speech he gave as a condolence message at the demise of Kasturba, the wife of the father.

When Netaji sent a message to Gandhi seeking his blessings for his new mission, he promptly referred to him as the Father of the Nation. Though Netaji's ways were violent, much different from Gandhi's peaceful measures to attain liberation, deep down they both knew that their end goals were the same. Netaji wanted India to attain freedom without any war but he was preparing an army cause he thought the British knew only one language - that of blood.

Though India is an ancient land and any man living in the recent past couldn't define the essence of the entire civilization, it is a fact that the country became a nation on 15 August 1947. It became one unit constituted by a Constitution and National Flag, emerging like the Phoenix from its own ashes. For this nation, there could have been no other father than the Mahatma himself.

> When Mohandas Gandhi was assassinated, J. Nehru didn't announce his demise by name. He instead said that the Father of the Nation is no more.

Interestingly, the title does not have an official standing. This was found out when a Class VI girl filed an RTI to clarify whether the title was ever given to the Mahatma or not. The Home Ministry took no action on the plea as the Indian Constitution allows only for education and military titles. Advani pointed out that the title is only a popular standing and no such title was ever conferred officially by the government.

The barrister who returned from a foreign land with dreams of fighting against colonialism was loved by the entire country. So much so that most considered him a father figure. The Maha Atma was today formally given the title of Father of the Nation.