India could soon rename itself. Wallis orders another wolf shot

Will India change its name soon? On Tuesday, the government itself led to speculation about this. In the dinner invitations for the participants of the G20 summit, she replaced the name India with a Sanskrit word: Bharat.

The invitation refers to Droupadi Murmu, President of the Republic of India, as “President of Bharat”. A photo of this invitation is currently circulating on the internet and sparking discussions. According to reports in the Indian media, the newspaper is said to be genuine.

India hosts the annual G20 summit, which takes place in New Delhi on Saturday and Sunday. Numerous heads of state and government, including US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, will be in attendance.

Bharat as an alternative to India

The country with over 1.4 billion inhabitants is officially known by two names: India and Bharat. However, the former is the most commonly used, both nationally and internationally. Hindustan is another word for 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 variant for India.

Several actors from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata (BJP) party support the nomenclature change. They claim that the name India was introduced by the British settlers and is a “symbol of slavery”. They refer to the constitution, in which India is also referred to as ‘Bharat’. The British ruled the country for about 200 years, until it gained independence in 1947.

According to media reports, the party could soon introduce a motion to change the name of the country in parliament.

Opposition members oppose it

But not everyone likes this suggestion. Opposition party writer and congressman Shashi Tharoor said Indians should “continue to use both words instead of giving up our claim to a historical name recognized around the world”.

There are no constitutional objections to calling India ‘Bharat’, one of the country’s two official names. But, “I hope the government will not be so foolish as to give up ‘India’, which has built an invaluable brand value over the centuries,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

(lacquer)