The rumoured plans to replace official usage of the country’s English name ‘India’ with ‘Bharat’ have triggered a major political row.
New Delhi: Amid the ongoing political uproar regarding a potential renaming of ‘India’ to ‘Bharat,’ a senior United Nations official stated on Wednesday that the world body evaluates name change requests from nations as they are submitted. Farhan Haq, the Deputy Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, referenced the case of Turkey’s name change to Turkiye, highlighting that the United Nations approved the formal request, as reported by PTI.
“Well, in the case of Turkiye, we responded to a formal request delivered to us by the Government. Obviously, if we get requests like that, we consider them as they come,” Haq said replying to a question on reports that India’s name could be changed to Bharat, as quoted by PTI.
On Tuesday, a political controversy erupted when invitations to the G20 dinner referred to President Droupadi Murmu as the ‘President of Bharat’ instead of the customary ‘President of India.’ This development has sparked speculation that the government may be contemplating a change in the country’s name.
The timing of this debate is significant, given the impending special session of Parliament, the agenda of which has not yet been disclosed. There have been unconfirmed reports suggesting that a name change proposal might be on the agenda for discussion and potential approval during this session. While members of the ruling BJP have proposed giving precedence to the name ‘Bharat’ over ‘India,’ opposition leaders have characterized this move as a distraction, pointing out that ‘Bharat’ is already mentioned in the constitution.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi told all the ministers to avoid the political reactions around the ‘Bharat’ issue’, noting that it has been the country’s ancient name.
Notably, the preamble to the English version of the Indian constitution begins with words – “We, the people of India…,” and then in Part One of the document it states “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.”
However, In Hindi version, the constitution replaces India with Bharat everywhere, except the part defining the country’s names, which says in Hindi, “Bharat, that is India, shall be a Union of States.”
To officially change India’s name to solely ‘Bharat,’ it would necessitate a constitutional amendment, which must be approved by a two-thirds majority in both houses of Parliament.