Currently the most populous country in the world, India may be about to make a historic decision by changing its official name to a new one: Bharat.
Bharat is a term in Sanskrit (ancestral language of India) which also means India. According to a story from Hindu mythology, Bharat was also the name of a legendary king who ruled the Indian subcontinent (corresponding today to India itself, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan).
Bharat is also believed to be a shortened form of Bharata Varsha, which means “the land of the descendants of Bharat”.
Bharat is one of the two official names of India, according to the country’s Constitution, which states in its first article that the country is called “India, which is Bharat”. However, the use of Bharat has been more common among speakers of Hindi and other indigenous languages, while India has been used more by speakers of English and other foreign languages.
What are the reasons for the name change?
India’s possible name change to Bharat is being pushed by the ruling party, the Indian People’s Party (BJP), which has a Hindu nationalist ideology.
Sources confirmed to US broadcaster CNBC-TV18 that a resolution to change the name is likely to pass a special session of the Indian Parliament later this month.
The move is also seen as a response to a recent bloc opposing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government that calls itself India, which stands for India’s Inclusive National Development Alliance.
The alliance is led by Modi’s main opposition party, the Indian National Congress (INC).
During a press conference on Tuesday (5), Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of the country’s capital, New Delhi, posed a provocative question to BJP members, asking them whether the party was considering a name change if the newly formed opposition alliance decided to adopt the traditional Hindi name.
“There is no official information about this, but I have heard rumors. Why is this happening? Some parties came together to form the India bloc. If the India alliance changes its name to Bharat, will they also back down on the idea of renaming the country to Bharat?” said Kejriwal.
Other arguments used for the change, according to CNBC sources, is that the name India is a British colonial heritage, which does not reflect the true identity and culture of the country. Furthermore, Bharat is “more inclusive and represents the diversity and unity of all peoples and regions of the country”.
They also stated that BJP members consider that the new name will be more respectful of the “sovereignty and dignity of the country” in relation to foreign powers.
The rumor of India’s name change intensified after the country’s president, Droupadi Murmu, who belongs to the BJP, sent invitations to a dinner for the participants of the G20 summit, to be held this week in India, where she presented herself as the “President of Bharat” instead of President of India.
On Tuesday, a BJP MP, Harnath Singh Yadav, indicated that his party is indeed considering changing the country’s name when he told the Indian news agency ANI that “the whole country demands that we use the word ‘Bharat’ instead of of ‘India’. The word ‘India’ is abuse given by the British, the word ‘Bharat’ is a symbol of our culture. I want there to be a change in our Constitution and the word ‘Bharat’ added to it”.
Opposition is against change
The idea of changing the name met with resistance from parliamentarians critical of the Indian government.
Opposition parties to the BJP do not agree with the change. They point out that it would be unnecessary and costly, since it would involve modifying all official documents, stamps, coins and even passports.
Furthermore, many of them believe that the name change is also an imposition by the BJP to impose its religious and cultural views on minorities and regions that have other identities and languages.
INC leader in the Indian Parliament, Jairam Ramesh, accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “distorting history and dividing the country with this initiative”.
He advocated the use of both the names India and Bharat as symbols of harmony and public confidence.
“Mr Modi can continue to distort history and divide India, which is Bharat, which is a Union of States. But we will not be deterred,” he wrote in a post on X (new Twitter name).
What is needed for a name change?
According to the Constitution of India, changing the name of the country depends on the approval of a constitutional amendment by a simple majority in both houses of the Indian Parliament.
Such approval is likely given that the BJP has a majority in both houses. It would also require the consent of the President of the country (who is also a member of the BJP) and the approval of the Supreme Court of India.
Once the resolution is passed, the government would have to amend the Constitution in at least ten sections where it says “government of India”.
Furthermore, the name change would have to be recognized by the international community and by international organizations such as the United Nations (UN).
Other countries that also made changes
Turkey changed its English name to Türkiye in 2022 (before it was Turkey), as a matter of cultural identity. The change was promoted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said that Türkiye was the best representation and expression of the “culture, civilization and values of the Turkish people”.
This recent list also includes North Macedonia (formerly Macedonia), Swaziland (formerly Swaziland) and Czech Republic (formerly Czech Republic). In the latter case, the official name remains Czech Republic: the change was just to make the country’s name shorter when used in international forums.
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