The screen grab of the dinner invite sent by the Indian president to the G20 delegates [X/@ShashiTharoor]
Tue 05 September 2023:
The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has substituted the name India with a Sanskrit phrase in dinner invitations sent to visitors attending this week’s Group of 20 (G20) summit, sparking speculation that the country’s name may be legally changed.
In the invitation extended to G20 guests on Tuesday, Droupadi Murmu is referred to as “President of Bharat” rather than “President of India.”
Officials of Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) back the change in nomenclature. They argue that the name India was introduced by British colonials and is a “symbol of slavery”. The British ruled India for about 200 years until the country gained independence in 1947.
"It is a proud moment for every Indian to have 'The President of Bharat' written on the invitation card for the dinner to be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan during the G20 Summit," tweets Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami pic.twitter.com/kXVVYbPQ7B
— ANI (@ANI) September 5, 2023
The nation of more than 1.4 billion people is officially known by two names, India and Bharat, but the former is most commonly used, both domestically and internationally. Hindustan is another word for the nation and is often used in literature and other forms of popular culture.
Bharat is an ancient Sanskrit word that many historians believe dates back to early Hindu texts. The word is also used as a Hindi option for India.
The BJP has long tried to erase names related to India’s Mughal and colonial past. The government has been accused of pursuing a nationalist agenda aimed at forming an ethnic Hindu state out of a constitutionally secular India.
In 2015, New Delhi’s famous Aurangzeb Road, named after a Mughal king, was changed to Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road after protests from Modi’s party leaders.
Last year, the government also renamed a colonial-era avenue in the heart of New Delhi that is used for ceremonial military parades.
Modi’s government says the name changes are an effort to reclaim India’s Hindu past.
Opposition criticised
India’s opposition parties, however, criticised the government’s move.
“Rashtrapati Bhawan [President’s House] has sent out an invite for a G20 dinner on Sept 9th in the name of ‘President of Bharat’ instead of the usual ‘President of India’,” Jairam Ramesh, leader of the main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, wrote on Tuesday on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Now, Article 1 in the Constitution can read: ‘Bharat, that was India, shall be a Union of States.’ But now even this ‘Union of States’ is under assault,” he added.
Congress legislator Shashi Tharoor said Indians should “continue to use both words rather than relinquish our claim to a name redolent of history, a name that is recognised around the world”.
“While there is no constitutional objection to calling India ‘Bharat’, which is one of the country’s two official names, I hope the government will not be so foolish as to completely dispense with ‘India’, which has incalculable brand value built up over centuries,” he posted on X.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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