138th year of Congress: How legacy of the grand old party is immortalized in philately

138 and counting. The grand old Congress may be down and facing an existential crisis of sorts but it has a rich and one of its kind of legacy in philately, the hobby of collecting stamps. Since Independence, 33 Congress presidents have had several commemorative stamps issued after them. Jawaharlal Nehru has been honoured with seven commemorative stamps; Indira Gandhi has had four commemorative stamps issued on her while Rajiv Gandhi has had two commemorative stamps issued on him.

The Department of Posts under the Ministry of Communications issues stamps in chiefly two different categories – Commemorative Stamps and Definitive Stamps. Commemorative Stamps are issued to commemorate important events, prominent personalities in various fields, aspects of nature, beautiful or rare flora and fauna, environmental issues, agricultural activities, national/international issues, games etc. They are printed in limited quantities and are available through various philately bureaus across India. On the other hand, Definitive Stamps are used for day-to- day postal mailing purposes and are available in various ascending denominations from 25 paise onwards at all post offices.

Acharya Kirpalani, Annie Besant, Chakravarti Vijayaraghavachariar, Babu Chitaranjan Das, Subhash Chandra Bose, Dadabhai Naoroji [three stamps>, Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Indira Gandhi, Jagjivan Ram, K Kamraj [three stamps>, Lala Lajpat Rai, Rajiv Gandhi, Dr Rajendra Prasada [three stamps>, Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya [three stamps>, Mahatma Gandhi [four stamps> Abul Kalam Azad are some of the prominent persons who figure in the list of Congress Presidents in whose memory commemorative stamps have been issued.

Others who figure in the list include Motilal Nehru, Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, Nellie Sengupta along with freedom fighter, revolutionary and husband Jatindra Mohan Sengupta, Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, Prushottam Das Tandon, Rasbihari Basu, Romesh Chandra Dutt, Sarojni Naidu, Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma, Siddavanahalli Nijalingappa, C Sankaran Nair, Surendranath Banerjee and Vallabh Bhai Patel. Almost all of them played some significant role in India’s freedom struggle as well.

The role played by the Congress in the freedom struggle was also captured in a commemorative stamp issued on 9 August 1983. The stamps shows Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and other Congress leaders discussing the “Quit India Resolution”, at the historic Congress Working Committee Session at Gowalia Tank Maidan, Bombay on 08.08.1942. The stamp was issued as part of the “India’s Struggle for Freedom”, series.

In 1985, the Department of Post, released a one-rupee stamp to mark the centenary year of the founding of the Indian National Congress. The stamp had miniscule pictures of 60 worthies who had chaired 78 sessions of the Congress. Incidentally, the current AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge is the 88th president of the party. As per the norms, the commemorative stamps are released 10 years after the demise of the person the government wishes to honour.

Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi also feature in the 10th series of definitive stamps titled “Builders of Modern India” released in 2008. Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Vallabbhai Patel, Abul Kalam Azad again feature in the 11th series of definitive stamps titled “Builders of Modern India – 2nd Issue, released between 2015-2021.

According to Krishna Kant Sharma, an avid philatelist and one of the experts on the subject, “Stamps are small bits of paper, stuck on envelopes, which traverse the entire world and spread information about India’s rich culture, heritage and achievements. They are the best medium to spread information about India. Philately, or the hobby of collecting stamps, is also often referred to as the “King of Hobbies”. It is one of the favourite hobby worldwide and many eminent persons have had fabulous collections. In England, Queen Victoria’s second son, Prince Alfred, started the Royal Philatelic Collection in 1864. It was handed down several generations and Queen Elizabeth II was reportedly very fond of the collection. The royal collection has been valued at upwards of £100 Million. King Farouk I, who ruled Egypt from 1936-1952, was an avid collector and created the Egyptian Royal Stamp Collection. Former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt not only loved collecting stamps but also designed several stamps. Other prominent personalities who loved collecting stamps include former US President Dwight D Eisenhower, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, John Lennon, Freddie Mercury, Ayn Rand, Warren Buffett etc.”

Sharma also shared that “In India, Department of Posts actively promotes Philately. The next National Philately Exhibition titled “AMRITPEX 2023”, is slated to be held in New Delhi during 11-15 February 2023.”

Jawaharlal Nehru also used to collect stamps while Indira Gandhi is known to have had interest in stamp designs and patterns.

Sharma has a rich collection of stamps on the history of Indian National Congress and hopes to present these original stamps to both Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge.

The present-day Congress is down and out. But there was a time and era when the Congress fortunes were linked to the country’s resilience, leadership and the freedom movement. For instance, when Motilal Nehru took over as the AICC President on December 26, 1919 during the 34th session of AICC, Mahatma Gandhi was also present. Motilal Nehru was 60 then, extremely westernized and was not considered a man to be easily swept off his feet. Initially he was against any extra constitutional measures against the British Raj but the Jallianwala Bagh massacre that happened in April 1919 leaving 379 defenceless persons dead changed him completely. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre was followed by martial law. Motilal Nehru did what he could to bring succour to those who had been condemned to the gallows or sentenced to long terms of imprisonment.

Mahatma Gandhi proposed Jawaharlal Nehru’s name for presidency of the Congress at Lahore in 1929 on the bank of river Ravi. Jawaharlal, barely 40, was somewhat embarrassed but Motilal was overjoyed and quoted a Persian adage “Harche ki pidar natawanad, pesar tamam kunaad (What the father is unable to accomplish, the son achieves).” Jawaharlal was the first Congress president to ride the horse – a white charger and received such a grand welcome that a newspaper wrote, “even the kings might envy.”

Indira Gandhi, aged 12, was present to witness the historic moment with Motilal and Swarup Rani who watched the proceedings from the balcony of Bhalla Shoe Company at Anarkali Bazar, Lahore showering petals. Lahore, the Punjab capital then, wore a festive look that day as all streets were canopied with bunting and sparkled with coloured lights. Pran Chopra, a Congress supporter who later became a distinguished journalist was present that day and recorded, “When Nehru came to Lahore, he was in the eyes of many a very romantic figure. He was handsome, he was dedicated. He inspired a kind of response which I do not think anyone other than Gandhi had inspired among the people.”

The era of emails, WhatsApp has resulted in fewer people using the traditional mail but the age-old charm of getting a handwritten mail will never go out of fashion and the stamps will continue to narrate their own stories.

A stamp on PV Narasimha Rao who served as Prime Minister and the Congress President between 1991-96 was due to be released on his 100th birth anniversary in June 2022 but is yet to be released.

Another senior Congress leader, Pranab Mukherjee who did not serve as the Congress president but president of the Indian Republic is set to have a stamp on his name soon.

The writer is a Visiting Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation. A well-known political analyst, he has written several books, including ‘24 Akbar Road’ and ‘Sonia: A Biography’. Views expressed are personal.

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