It began with a . How it ends could affect more than a billion people.
State-issued invites sent to guests of referred to IndiaB次元官网网址檚 president, , as B次元官网网址淧resident of Bharat.B次元官网网址� Suddenly, in many circles, the question was everywhere: Would the country of more than 1.4 billion now be called by its ancient Sanskrit name?
Since then, Prime Minister B次元官网网址檚 ministers, his Hindu nationalist supporters, Bollywood stars and cricketers have made similar public proclamations: India should officially be rebranded as Bharat.
India is known by two names: India, used worldwide, and the Sanskrit and Hindi nomenclature of B次元官网网址淏harat.B次元官网网址� Now, ModiB次元官网网址檚 government is signaling that Indians should shed the name India and instead call their country Bharat.
The possibility is resonating with Hindu nationalists who form the prime ministerB次元官网网址檚 core vote base. Their stated reason: the name B次元官网网址淚ndiaB次元官网网址� is tied to colonialism and slavery, a sentiment that ModiB次元官网网址檚 ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has long shared. But the reasons B次元官网网址� political, cultural, historical B次元官网网址� run far deeper.
THERE ARE SOME PRECEDENTS, BUT INDIAB次元官网网址橲 SITUATION IS SINGULAR
A name B次元官网网址� be it of a person or an entire country B次元官网网址� is many things. ItB次元官网网址檚 descriptive, emotionally important and deeply wrapped up in identity. So when it comes to a whole nation, a name change is not a small thing.
Around the world, there have been some notable national rebrandings in recent decades as nations shed names inflicted by colonial rulers. Ceylon was changed to Sri Lanka in 1972. Rhodesia got rebranded as Zimbabwe in 1980. Burma became in 1989. And last year, Turkey was officially changed to . The list goes on B次元官网网址� Cambodia to Kampuchea (and eventually back again), Swaziland to , Malaya to Malaysia.
In India, the countryB次元官网网址檚 renaming demands stem from a more cultural and religious perspective. They are often invoked by Hindu nationalists who say the name Bharat is more authentic to the nationB次元官网网址檚 past.
Officially, the Indian government has made no decision and issued no statement, and one senior leader dismissed the speculations of a name change as B次元官网网址渏ust rumors.B次元官网网址� But IndiaB次元官网网址檚 foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, seemed to advocate the increased use of Bharat this week.
B次元官网网址淏次元官网网址業ndia, that is BharatB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� it is there in the constitution. Please, I would invite everybody to read it,B次元官网网址� Jaishankar said Wednesday.
Indeed, IndiaB次元官网网址檚 constitution uses the term Bharat just once: B次元官网网址淚ndia, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.B次元官网网址� Everywhere else, the country is referred to as India in English.
The name Bharat is an ancient Sanskrit word that many historians believe dates back to early Hindu scriptures. B次元官网网址淚ndiaB次元官网网址� has etymological roots in the Indus River, which was called B次元官网网址淪indhuB次元官网网址� in Sanskrit. Another popular but not legally recognized name for the country is Hindustan, which means B次元官网网址渓and of the IndusB次元官网网址� in Persian. All three names were in use long before British rule.
But ModiB次元官网网址檚 government, which won 2014 national polls and returned to power in 2019, has a penchant for changing names.
It has done so with various cities, towns and prominent roads that were long associated with the British rule and Muslim heritage, arguing it is an ongoing effort to salvage the country from the taint of colonialism and so-called Muslim invaders. Prominent among such efforts is the governmentB次元官网网址檚 renaming of the northern city of Allahabad B次元官网网址� named by Muslim Mughal rulers centuries ago B次元官网网址� to the Sanskrit word B次元官网网址淧rayagraj.B次元官网网址�
POLITICS IS AT THE CENTER OF THE DEBATE
The name-changing exercise is fraught with a political motivation that is an essential ingredient of the ruling governmentB次元官网网址檚 revisionist agenda and has, under ModiB次元官网网址檚 rule, come amid increasing attacks by Hindu nationalists against minorities, particularly Muslims. A largely Hindu country that has long proclaimed its multicultural character, India has a sizable Muslim minority B次元官网网址� 14% of the population.
Already, Indians and even foreigners are tacitly being nudged to get used to the revised nomenclature of the country.
A government-made mobile application for media and G20 delegates attending the summit says Bharat is the official name of the country B次元官网网址� a first public proclamation of its kind during any global event. Visiting guests for the summit are also being welcomed to the hostB次元官网网址檚 capital city with giant billboards that refer to the country as both Bharat and India.
Efforts to change IndiaB次元官网网址檚 name have been made in the past through court cases, but judges have so far steered away from the issue. However, an upcoming session of the federal Parliament B次元官网网址� a surprise announcement made by the Modi government without disclosing any agenda B次元官网网址� has prompted speculation. Opposition parties say an official rebranding could very well be in the cards.
In July, IndiaB次元官网网址檚 opposition parties announced a new alliance called INDIA in an effort to unseat Modi and defeat his party ahead of national elections in 2024. The acronym stands for B次元官网网址淚ndian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance.B次元官网网址� Since then, some officials in ModiB次元官网网址檚 party have demanded that the country be called Bharat instead of India.
The formation of that alliance, says Zoya Hasan, an Indian academic and political scientist, B次元官网网址渃ould be the immediate provocation here.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a political debate which is aimed at embarrassing the opposition who have re-appropriated the nationalism platform with their new name,B次元官网网址� Hasan said. B次元官网网址淭his rattled the ruling establishment, and they want to regain their monopoly over nationalism by invoking Bharat.B次元官网网址�
She also said the timing of suddenly using Bharat is curious given one particular recent event. The chief of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a radical Hindu movement widely accused of stoking religious hatred with aggressively anti-Muslim views, recently urged Indians to use the Sanskrit name more often. The RSS is the ideological mother ship of ModiB次元官网网址檚 party, and the prime minister has been its lifelong member.
B次元官网网址淭hey can call it Bharat. ItB次元官网网址檚 one of the official names. But thereB次元官网网址檚 no need to erase India,B次元官网网址� Hasan said, adding that the furor is a B次元官网网址渘eedless controversyB次元官网网址� as both names B次元官网网址渉ave happily coexisted.B次元官网网址�
ModiB次元官网网址檚 party leaders, meanwhile, have celebrated what they call a much-needed change.
B次元官网网址淩EPUBLIC OF BHARAT B次元官网网址� happy and proud that our civilisation is marching ahead boldly towards AMRIT KAAL,B次元官网网址� BJP politician Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. B次元官网网址淎mrit KaalB次元官网网址� is a Hindi phrase meaning B次元官网网址渁uspicious eraB次元官网网址� that Modi often uses to describe what he calls IndiaB次元官网网址檚 resurgence under his government.
ModiB次元官网网址檚 opponents have been less welcoming, with many saying the governmentB次元官网网址檚 priorities are misplaced amid more pressing crises like increasing unemployment, widening religious strife and the backsliding of democracy. They also say his government is , and have B次元官网网址� at least sarcastically B次元官网网址� suggested they might change the allianceB次元官网网址檚 name as a countermove.
B次元官网网址淲e could of course call ourselves the Alliance for Betterment, Harmony And Responsible Advancement for Tomorrow (BHARAT),B次元官网网址� opposition lawmaker Shashi Tharoor wrote on X. B次元官网网址淭hen perhaps the ruling party might stop this fatuous game of changing names.B次元官网网址�
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