From India to Bharat?

Recently, a huge controversy has arisen in the country of India. Will its name be changed to Bharat?

Currently, the country's two official names are India and Bharat in the languages English and Hindi respectively. Though Bharat is a widely used name for India by government officials, a question has arisen, "Is it right to change the name?" A number of other countries have also changed their name, for example, from Turkey to Türkiye. Still, now the spotlight is on India, which is conducting its final discussions at the G20 summit happening in New Delhi, India.

What blew up this unconfirmed news?

The President of "Bharat" invited dignitaries to a reception during the G20 Summit instead of The President of "India". And apart from that, a new name for a political alliance was formed - I.N.D.I.A standing for the Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance. It is said that India would change its name to Bharat because they didn't want to see "I.N.D.I.A against Modi" or "I.N.D.I.A against the Indian Government."

The majority of the ruling party, BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) has expressed strong views for the affirmative of changing India's name to Bharat. A surprising fact is that an intellectual property lawyer based in South Africa, Darren Oliver, with the method he developed for rebranding the country, claimed that it would cost an astonishing Rs.14,304 crores in the Indian Rupee currency. Here's the question: Is it worth it for India to change their country's name, when all they have is an economically growing economy, and not a developing one? As an emerging country and the most populous country in the world, what do you think of this new change?

Regardless of what the government and others say, according to a survey we conducted with the higher middle class in the southern part of India, the public with this income group is not happy with this name change. The change from Indians to Bharatiyas, from the Republic of India to the Republic of Bharat, from Overseas Citizens of India to Overseas Citizens of Bharat, is one that is not welcome amongst the general public. Even Indian citizens not currently residing in India have a negative opinion towards this change, A major question they have asked is, "Why should our country forsake a name of currently, immense international recognition, to abolish the scent of British colonialism or slavery that we've left far behind in our past?"

The country of India has been referred to as India, Bharatam, Bharata, Bharat, and Hindostan among others. But what's the real scene behind this name change? Was this already planned? In August 2021, the Indian government came up with a rule, all new vehicles that are to be registered with a licensed number plate, may be registered with the new BH Series. So the number plates would be YY BH #### XX, instead of having a representation for each state such as KA, KL, TN, etc. Another Interesting fact is that the name change would be applied through an amendment to the Indian Constitution. An amendment requires a two-thirds majority. Just a few days prior to the incident, the government unexpectedly convened a special five-day session of parliament later this month without providing a schedule. Unconfirmed rumors that a name change would be proposed and approved during the session were sparked by the action.

Even a renowned member of the Lok Sabha, Shashi Tharoor, has expressed his opinion against the name change. He said "While there is no constitutional objection to calling India 'Bharat', I hope the government will not be so "foolish" to completely dispense with 'India' which has 'incalculable brand value'. We should continue to use both words rather than relinquish our claim to a name redolent of history, a name that is recognized around the world." And this time, The Student Diplomat sides with him.