Modi Government Replaces India’s Name with Bharat in G20
The Modi administration on Tuesday appeared to have taken an unannounced step toward renaming the nation from the internationally recognized “India” to the Hindi equivalent, “Bharat.”.
In the preamble, the Constitution refers to the nation as both India and Bharat. Hindus have long fought for the right to change the official name of the nation from India.
An official invitation from India to the heads of state for the G20 dinner on September 9 was issued in the name of the “President of Bharat,” which was an unusual designation for the Indian President.
According to the BJP, the name India, which served as a symbol of slavery when it was given to the nation by British colonialists, was given. In order to avoid what Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party views as a name from the colonial past, his administration replaced the name India with “Bharat” on dinner invitations sent to visitors attending this week’s G20 meeting.
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Instead of “President of India,” the G20 invitation to guests refers to Droupadi Murmu as “President of Bharat.”. India is more frequently used both at home and abroad, despite the fact that the nation of more than 1 point 4 billion people has two official names: Bharat and India.
Many historians believe that early Hindu writings are where the term “Bharat” from ancient Sanskrit first appeared. India is also referred to by this word in Hindi.
Leaders of Modi’s BJP are in favor of changing the name. They claim that the term “India” was a “symbol of slavery” when it was applied to the nation by British colonists. “The British ruled India for roughly 200 years before the country gained its independence in 1947.
According to the AP, Modi’s party has been attempting for years to have names connected to Mughal and colonial periods in India’s past removed.
The well-known Aurangzeb Road in New Delhi, which had been named for a Mughal emperor, was changed to Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Road in 2015 as a result of protests from Modi’s party officials. The name of a colonial-era street in the heart of New Delhi that was utilized for official military parades last year was also changed by the government.
The Modi administration claims that the name changes are an effort to revive India’s Hindu heritage.
The opposition claims that the government is trying to hide its “diplomatic failures” at the G20 summit.
The invitation card is real and this wording has been used twice, according to news site The Wire. It is believed that all protocol materials distributed during PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Greece last month referred to the “Prime Minister of Bharat.”.
The unusual presidential invitation came soon after the leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh made a public demand to rename India as Bharat over the weekend.
The absence of the presidents of China and Russia from the G20 summit was cited by opposition groups as evidence that the government was trying to hide its alleged diplomatic failings.
The opposition parties claim that when Indira Gandhi hosted the summit of the 129-member non-aligned movement in 1983, India had more heads of state at a significant event than Mr. Modi has claimed.
Despite having scheduled a special session of parliament from September 18 to 22, the government has not yet specified what it plans to cover. This has led to speculation that it may attempt to formally adopt its preferred name through a constitutional amendment.
For the major change, Mr. Modi may not have the necessary support, in which case it could be another tool in his electoral quiver for the general elections scheduled for May of the following year.
India’s name is offensive to Hindus for yet another reason. The BJP has been perplexed about the tone it should take ever since a group of 27 opposition parties decided to band together and choose the name INDIA, which stands for Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance.
The name of the alliance was still on Modi’s mind a week later. He even claimed that the East India Company and Indian Mujahideen both had India in their names, according to The Wire.
The name of the alliance, INDIA, has reportedly generated a lot of interest, according to branding experts. Following this, additional opposition members, including lawmakers from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress, and Rashtriya Janata Dal, criticized the government, claiming the name change demonstrated how alarmed it was by the combined opposition INDIA alliance.
Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu MdotK. The opposition alliance named itself INDIA, according to Stalin, who added that despite the BJP’s promises to transform India, all we got after nine years was a name change!
Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi chief minister, and AAP national convener, stated at a press conference that the BJP is upset with the INDIA alliance as the reason behind the move.
The Ministry of External Affairs, which is organizing the G20 events, and Rashtrapati Bhawan have not released any official statements. Rashtrapati Bhawan sources responded that the MEA is the only entity that can respond when asked about the validity of an invitation that has been circulating on social media.
Bharat and India are both recognized names for the nation, but Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi claimed that the BJP was using them in opposition to one another.
