The name of a country is more than just a label. It is a symbol of its identity, history, and culture. That is the reason the recent controversy over what India should be called on the international stage has sparked so much interest and debate.
The controversy began when dinner invitations for the G20 summit, hosted by India in New Delhi, referred to the country as “Bharat” instead of the customary “India” in the English version. The invites were issued by the “President of Bharat,” Droupadi Murmu, who belongs to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), drove by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The two India and Bharat are used officially in the nation of 1.4 billion individuals, which has more than 20 official languages. “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States,” the country’s constitution states. Bharat is also the Hindi word for India and is used interchangeably – both feature on Indian passports for example.
Be that as it may, its use on the invites marks a notable change in the naming convention used by the country on the international stage under Modi and his Hindu-nationalist BJP. The party has been emphasizing the need to shed India’s colonial past and liberate the country from what it sees as “vestiges of British rule.”
Some argue that “India” is a colonial-era name given by the British, who governed India for about 200 years until it gained independence in 1947. The name India has been derived by ancient Western civilizations from the Sanskrit word for the Indus River – Sindhu – and was later adapted by the British Empire.
“Bharat,” on the other hand, is derived from the name of an ancient Hindu king and represents the country’s cultural heritage. “The word ‘India’ is an abuse given to us by the British, whereas the word ‘Bharat’ is a symbol of our culture,” Harnath Singh Yadav, a BJP politician, told Indian broadcaster ANI.
The use of “Bharat” on G20 invites has been linked to political developments, including the formation of an opposition alliance called INDIA, an acronym for Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance. The alliance, drove by Rahul Gandhi’s Congress Party, aims to challenge Modi’s BJP in the next general elections in 2024.
Opposition leaders have expressed concerns about completely replacing “India” with “Bharat” and its impact on the country’s global brand value. “India is known all over the world as India. It has a certain value attached to it. If you change it to Bharat then you will have to build that brand again,” said Manish Tewari, a Congress spokesperson.
India’s Minister of External Affairs, S. Jaishankar, in any case, asserted that “India is Bharat” and pointed to the constitution’s support for the use of “Bharat.” He also said that there was no contradiction between using different names for different languages.
The debate surrounding the country’s name reflects broader efforts in India to redefine its identity and get away from colonial legacies. These efforts also include renaming roads and buildings related to the two India’s Mughal as well as its colonial past. For example, in 2022, the public authority renamed Rajpath, a 3-kilometer (1.8-mile) boulevard formerly known as Kingsway that runs through the heart of New Delhi.
The controversy also coincided with Modi’s opening speech at the G20 summit, where he sat behind a placard that read “Bharat” instead of “India.” Indian officials at the occasion also wore badges that read “Bharat Official,” signaling a potential shift in naming conventions on the international stage.
The name of a country may seem like a trivial matter, however it can have significant implications for its image, identity, and relations with other nations. The debate about whether India should be called Bharat or not is likely to continue, both domestically and internationally.