Pakistan has focused on the word “India” amid an ongoing disagreement that was sparked by Rashtrapati Bhavan’s invitations to a G20 luncheon on September 9 referring to the President of Bharat instead of the customary President of India.
According to recent rumours, Pakistan would claim the name “India” if the United Nations were to stop officially recognising it. Pakistan has previously asserted that the Indus region has historically been referred to as “India.”
The India vs. Bharat dispute has been used by the opposition to attack the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Some detractors claim that the BJP is aiming to change the name of the nation from India to Bharat because it is concerned about a future INDIA alliance.
Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, has harshly criticised the BJP and the government for sending out invitations to the G20 dinner from Rashtrapati Bhavan, calling it an obvious attempt to falsify the country’s past.
Sanjay Raut, a member of parliament for the Shiv Sena (UBT), claimed on Wednesday that changing the name of India to Bharat amounts to a “insult” to the Constitution written by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. He emphasised that the country’s Constitution has long allowed for both “India” and “Bharat,” and he questioned the legitimacy of making this change at this time.
According to sources, the administration may decide to have the phrase “India” removed from the Constitution during the upcoming special session of parliament, which is slated to take place from September 18 to 22. It is unclear if the central government would go through with changing the name of the nation to just “Bharat.” Concerns over Pakistan’s prospective claim to the name “India” are also raised by this development.
The Indian Constitution’s historic Article 1(1), which declares that “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States,” makes it quite apparent that the nation can be referred to as either India or Bharat. Due to varying views on the name, this dual nomenclature was approved by the Constituent Assembly. Even Muhammad Ali Jinnah advocated for names other than “India” for the future sovereign nation, such as “Hindustan” or “Bharat.” The name “Bharat” also has profound Sanskrit roots and was once connected to a well-known king of the medieval era.