Controversy over the word ‘India’
Recently there is talk of changing the name of the country from ‘India’ to Bharat.
The two names are used interchangeably in Article 1 of the Constitution, “India, that is, Bharat, shall be a Union of States”.
Historical perspective:
- The roots of Bharat, Bharat, or Bharatavarsha are found in mythological literature and the epic Mahabharata.
- The Vishnu Purana describes India as a land “between the ocean in the south and the abode of snow in the north”. According to some experts, it is also said that the name of our country ‘Bharat’ is named after ‘Bharat’, a king of the Rig Vedic tribe.
- In Rig Veda, the land of India has been called ‘Bharatam Janam’ and its residents have been called ‘Bharatputra’. Social scientist Catherine Clementine-Ojha has interpreted India as a religious and socio-cultural entity rather than a political or geographical entity.
- ‘India’ refers to “the continental and subcontinental region where the Brahmanical system of society prevails”.
- It is found in the Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela that “he had sent an expedition to conquer India.”
- British India: From the second half of the 18th century, the name ‘India’ became increasingly used on British maps and the name ‘Hindustan’ began to disappear from all of South Asia.
- Making of the Constitution: Nehru has mentioned the words India, Bharat and Hindustan in his famous book ‘Discovery of India’. But when the question of naming India in the Constitution arose, ‘Hindustan’ was dropped, and both ‘Bharat’ and ‘India’ were retained.
- Constituent Assembly: On September 17, 1949, the meeting of the Constituent Assembly was taken up to discuss the “Name and Territory of the Union”. Right from the time the first article read as “India, that is, Bharat, shall be a Union of States”. Disagreements arose among the members.
- Many members of the Constituent Assembly spoke out against the use of ‘India’, seeing the term as a reminder of the colonial past. Hari Vishnu Kamath suggested what the first article should be, “India or India in the English language”.
- Historians and Linguists: Historians and linguists have deeply studied the name of this country, especially the origin of its name, India. They all are not unanimous about the origin of the name India. Some suggested “Bharat” or “Bharatvarsha” or “Bharatbhoomi” as possible names which are derived from scriptures.
Supreme Court opinion:
- In 2020, the Supreme Court had rejected a PIL seeking to remove “India” from the Constitution and retain only India to “ensure that the citizens of this country are freed from the colonial past”. The top court said, “India is already called India in the Constitution.”
- The Chief Justice of India upheld the individual’s right to choose either of the two names.
Way forward:
- The government may decide to make ‘Bharat’ the official name of the country.
- However, the government will have to introduce a bill in Parliament to amend Article 1 of the Constitution.
- Although there is no constitutional objection in calling India as ‘Bharat’, it is futile to completely get rid of ‘India’, which has immense brand value.
Source – Indian Express
