NEW DELHI: The right-wing Hindutva government of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is considering renaming the Republic of India by its ancient name ‘Bharat’.
‘Bharat’ was selected as an alternative name for India in the Constitution of India adopted in 1950. A third name ‘Hindustan’ is sometimes an alternative name for the region comprising most of the modern Indian states.
According to Indian media, a resolution to rename India as Bharat may be brought by the government during Parliament’s upcoming special session scheduled from September 18-22.
This comes as an official dinner invite to G20 delegates from the Indian President’s residence Rashtrapati Bhawan had ‘President of Bharat’ written on it instead of the usual ‘President of India’. Notably, the special aircraft that is used by the President, Vice President, and Prime Minister has the name “Bharat” inscribed on it.
The Constitution of India currently refers to the country as “India, that is Bharat…”, but there are growing calls to amend this to simply ‘Bharat’.
The demand to rename India as Bharat by amending the Constitution has intensified the Indian government may bring a resolution. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also echoed similar sentiments.
Hindutva group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has voiced support for the change. He previously urged to use the term ‘Bharat’ instead of ‘India’, emphasizing that the country has been known as Bharat for centuries.
During the recently concluded session of Parliament, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Bansal demanded the removal of ‘India’ from the Constitution, arguing that it symbolizes colonial slavery.
The sentiment was echoed by fellow BJP MP Harnath Singh Yadav, who called for a constitutional amendment to replace “India” with “Bharat”
As the special session of Parliament commences on September 18, there is speculation that a constitutional amendment bill may be introduced to effect this change.
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Bharat originates from the Sanskrit word “Bharata” which stands for ‘Agni’ meaning fire. Bharat was one of India’s famous emperors, the son of Dushyant and Shakuntala, mentioned in the Indian epic Ramayana.
The name “India” is originally derived from the name of the river Sindh (Indus River) and has been in use since the 5th century BC. The term appeared in Old English as early as the 9th century and reemerged in Modern English in the 17th century.
