The sartorial in political leaders

Of late much has been made of the less than elegant appearance of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House during his meeting with US President Donald Trump. The meeting, which quickly degenerated into a verbal joust, with Trump and his Vice President JD Vance berating Zelensky on his role in the war with Russia, also became infamous for the brazenness in which a journalist positioned near Trump asked the Ukrainian leader why he was not attired in a formal suit.

That question was insulting for Zelensky, reminding him that all visitors to the White House are expected to be formal where the dress code is concerned. Ukraine's President swallowed the insult. And yet when El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele met the American President in Washington on Monday, he was not in a western suit but had on something that certainly made him feel comfortable. No one asked him why he was not wearing a suit.

So how should political leaders, especially heads of government and state, carry themselves insofar as their attire is concerned? The principal point here is that leaders, particularly when they are abroad, should be clothed in a manner which is respectable and enhances the dignity of their nations. Jawaharlal Nehru, who in the days long before the partition of India was constantly spotted in western suits, swiftly made the transition to an achkan and churidar when the date of Indian independence approached. It was in achkan and churidar that Nehru visited the world's capitals and interacted with global leaders.

In similar manner, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, used to a western lifestyle, was till the creation of Pakistan prominently attired in western suits. Not until the eve of independence did he replace the western suit with a proper South Asian achkan, topped with what has come to be known as a Jinnah cap on the head. Jinnah did not live long after partition, but note that in every photograph between August 1947 and September 1948, his western suits are missing and his achkans and topee are in. One could suggest here that in the instances of Nehru and Jinnah, a change in fashion was necessitated by the nationalisms which defined their politics in the lead-up to independence from British rule.

But where did that leave Gandhi? He was for years and till his assassination in January 1948 comfortable in his threadbare clothes, essentially a dhoti. When he met the British monarch on a visit to London in the 1930s, he was asked by a rather cheeky reporter if the king had any comment on his appearance. Gandhi quipped, 'No, he was wearing enough for the both of us'. That was a dig at the royal attire, inclusive of the medals, the monarch had on his person at the meeting.

And speaking of attire, remember the propensity of certain political figures, especially in times of war, to project themselves as soldier-statesmen ready to lead their nations to battlefield victory in military dress. At meetings of allied leaders in the Second World War, while Franklin Delano Roosevelt and after him Harry Truman were comfortable in civilian suits, Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin appeared in military regalia. The clear intention was to convince their people that they were in command of the situation.

In Bangladesh's history, old photographs of a young and rising Sheikh Mujibur Rahman show him, at various times, in achkan and western suits. It was a dapper Bengali politician in smartly pressed western suits on a visit to the United States in the 1950s. By the late 1960s, Bangabandhu's sartorial appearance underwent a change, with the white kurta and a dark Mujib coat turning into a symbol of his growing leadership of the country. Abroad, it was a prince coat, buttoned up till the neck, that he wore. In a curious twist to history, a good number of politicians in Pakistan today can be spotted wearing exactly the sort of clothes which Bangladesh's founder wore from the 1960s and till his assassination.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was acutely conscious of how he presented himself before the public. That western suit never quite left him. But when he took charge as Pakistan's leader in December 1971, he went for a swift change in attire in public. At political rallies, he was in baggy shirts and shalwar, with sometimes a Jinnah cap or a Mao cap on the head. For formal occasions, he went for his own version of the prince coat, the difference with Nehru and Bangabandhu being that on the collar of his prince coat Bhutto had a couple of golden stripes stitched on to enhance his appeal to people. It was attire he also had his ministers and advisors adopt in the years till his fall from power in July 1977.

One of the more interesting of tales about leadership attire in our part of the world relates to the women who have led their countries as heads of government. Indira Gandhi, Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia made it a point to present themselves on every occasion, at public meetings and formal conferences, smartly dressed in sarees. Mamata Banerjee and Motia Chowdhury have always been respected for the simple sarees gracing their personalities. Benazir Bhutto was happy in shalwar kameez evocative of the green and white in her country's national flag. In the West these days, women politicians are without question comfortable in pants, a circumstance that simply was not there in the 1960s and the 1970s. Hillary Clinton, Rachel Reeves, Giorgia Meloni and Marine Le Pen are a smart band of politicians whose charisma is certainly heightened by the shirts and trousers they are in.

In the years when he decided to be a civilian politician, Ayub Khan changed into western suits but had them accompanied by a Jinnah cap, placed at a slant, on his head. But sometimes delusions of grandeur overcame him, as on his state visit to Britain in the 1960s. In field marshal's uniform, with his baton and row of medals, he was welcomed by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Ziaur Rahman, during his presidency in Bangladesh, changed into what has come to be known as safari suits. In his time, Hussein Muhammad Ershad followed suit.

Life is not to be assessed by what one wears. But for political figures purposeful attire often is a necessary accompaniment to the practice of their profession. Netaji, symbolising Indian nationalism in local attire, had a switchover to military uniforms as leader of the Indian government-in-exile. In China, Mao Zedong's tunic is gone and Xi Jinping wears western suits. Moulana Bhashani had his kurta, lungi and his own version of a skullcap.

In other instances, though, this obsession with sartorial appearance has often made a laughing stock of men, among whom one can count Zaire's Mobutu and Jean-Bedel Bokassa of the short-lived Central African Empire.

ahsan.syedbadrul@gmail.com