- Government’s Push for “Bharat”
- Controversy Surrounding India’s English Name
- Debate Over the Name Change
After a state-issued invitation sent to world leaders referred to the country as “Bharat,” India was abuzz with rumors on Tuesday that the country’s English name would be discontinued.
The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has worked to remove remnants of British rule from India’s urban landscape, political institutions, and history texts, but its next action could be the most significant of its kind to date.
Modi typically refers to India as “Bharat,” a term that dates back to ancient Hindu scriptures written in Sanskrit and is one of the two official titles for the country according to its constitution.
Members of his Hindu-nationalist ruling party have previously campaigned against the use of the country’s well-known name, India. In Western antiquity, enforced by the British during their conquest.
This weekend, India will host the G20 summit of world leaders, which will culminate in a state banquet hosted by the “President of Bharat,” according to invitation cards.
The government has convened a special session of parliament for later this month, but its legislative agenda remains secret.
However, unnamed government sources informed the broadcaster News18 that Bharatiya Janata Party lawmakers would submit a special resolution to give precedence to the name “Bharat.”
There was a mixture of opposition legislators and enthusiastic supporters in response to rumors of the plan.
“I hope the government will not be so foolish as to completely dispense with ‘India’,” Shashi Tharoor of the opposition Congress party said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“We should continue to use both terms rather than relinquish our claim to a name steeped in history and recognized worldwide.”
Virender Sehwag, a former Test cricketer, welcomed the possibility of a name change and urged India’s cricket authority to begin using “Bharat” on team uniforms.
India is a name given by the British, and it’s long past time for us to return to our original name, ‘Bharat,'” he wrote.
“colonial mentality”
For decades, Indian administrations of varying ideologies have renamed roads and even entire cities to eradicate remnants of the British colonial era.
The process has accelerated under the leadership of Modi, who has emphasized in public speeches the need for India to forsake vestiges of a “colonial mindset.”
His administration replaced British-designed colonial-era structures in New Delhi’s parliamentary precinct.
Home Minister Amit Shah characterized “other signs of our slavery” as references to the British monarchy.
Critics assert that Modi’s removal of Islamic place names imposed during the Mughal empire, which preceded British rule, is emblematic of a desire to assert the supremacy of India’s Hindu majority religion.
