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Should India change its name soon? An invitation to an official G20 dinner fueled speculation that the country could change its name.
In the formal invitation to the heads of state and government of the Group of Great Economic Powers (G20) meeting in New Delhi this weekend, the host, President Draupadi Murmu (65), is not referred to as President of India, but as “President of India’. of Bharat”, as reported by the media. ‘Bharat’ is an old Sanskrit word for India, which is used as a synonym in the constitution, for example, and is also widely used among the population.
Ruling party welcomes name change
Some radical Hindus in the country are bothered by the official country name India. They claim that it was popularized by the British colonists and is therefore a symbol of slavery. ‘Bharat’, on the other hand, according to ancient Hindu scriptures from a time before Christ, was the name of a legendary king who is said to have lived in what is now India.
His descendants are said to live in a land called “Bharatvarsha” (Land of Bharat). Recently, the head of the Hindu nationalist organization RSS, which is close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s (72) BJP, also a Hindu nationalist ruling party, called for the name of the country to be changed to ‘Bharat’.
Modi’s government is currently generally trying to move away from the colonial past and focus on national pride. Being an Indian is often equated with being a Hindu by nationalists in the predominantly Hindu but multi-religious India. Many ruling party officials also welcomed the use of the term “Bharat” in the G20 invitation to the two-day summit, which begins Saturday.
Critics question the proportionality
Opposition politicians, on the other hand, question the considerations for a possible name change. The name India is recognized internationally and has become a brand, they say. The director of the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation in India, Adrian Haack, also said: “When the state was established, however, a conscious choice was made to use the name India, as it was internationally established. This argument is all the more valid today, which is why critics of the project are questioning its proportionality.”
Moreover, several opposition parties had recently banded together to form a coalition called INDIA (short for Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) to position themselves against the ruling party. Modi has been Prime Minister of India since 2014. A new parliament will be elected in the spring of 2024. Modi is expected to seek re-election. Observers suspect that the use of the word ‘Bharat’ in the official letter is likely to be aimed primarily at the local public.
banish colonial history
Renaming place names is basically nothing new in India. A number of cities in the country have already been given a new name and have become more or less ‘Hindus’. For example, the city of Prayagraj in the state of Uttar Pradesh was called Allahabad until 2018. Elias Marini Schäfer of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in India also emphasizes that not only the current Hindu nationalist ruling party, but also the formerly dominant Congress party has already renamed cities. The former Bangalore has been officially called Bangaluru since 2014. “British colonial history should be banned from city names,” said Marini Schäfer. “Now the BJP is trying this for the first time on an international level.”
Should India actually change its name in the future, it would not be the first country to do so and move away from its colonial past. For example, present-day Sri Lanka used to be called Ceylon, and Thailand used to be called Siam. Other countries also had other reasons for the name change: Turkey, for example, filed a name change with the United Nations last year to be called Türkiye in English instead of Turkey – partly because ‘Turkey’ means turkey in English. And in 2016 the Czech Republic opted for the less cumbersome English-speaking Czech Republic instead of the Czech Republic. (SDA/bab)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
