Pak may rebrand itself as India, say reports; dampen spirits of ‘Bharat’ advocates
What set off the speculation about a possible name change for India was a G20 dinner invite in which President Droupadi Murmu is referred to as the “President of Bharat”
A post on microblogging site X by South Asia Index, claiming that Pakistan may stake claim on the name “India” if the Indian government renounces it, seems to have put a spanner in the enthusiasm among right wing supporters in India for the name change.
The tweet read, “Pakistan may lay claim on name “India” if India derecognizes it officially at UN level – local media. Nationalists in Pakistan have long argued that Pakistan has rights on the name as it refers to Indus region."
One hilarious response to the tweet went, “Ha ha.. now I’m imagining a scenario when anti-nationals will be asked to go to India!"
An earlier tweet from the South Asia Index handle had claimed that the government in India is set to change the name of the country from India to Bharat in an attempt to "decolonise" India.”
The tweet went on to add that the name Bharat has Sanskrit roots and is also the name of a famous medieval era King of this region.
"India refers to Indus region, basin of mighty Indus River, spanning much of modern day Pakistan. Jinnah had objected to British India adopting ‘India’ as its name for newly independent country & had suggested Hindustan or Bharat instead," said the tweet.
The tweet concluded that the “Indian right wing has long detested name ‘India’. Recently, a BJP leader termed it as ‘abuse’ to the country.”
What set off the speculation about the country’s name being changed from “India” to “Bharat” was the government sending out a G20 dinner invite that refers to President Droupadi Murmu as the “President of Bharat” instead of “President of India”.
Opposition parties in India have vented their spleen against the wording of the invitation, while the BJP has expressed their support. The Indian government has not yet officially made any statement about changing the name of the country from “India” to “Bharat”.
In the meantime, former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan claimed that the original name of the country was "unquestionably" Bharat and it was the British that started calling it India.