Inviting delegates to an official event on the sidelines of this weekend's G20 summit in New Delhi, the hosts referred to India as "Bharat" – fuelling speculation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government wants to replace the country's colonial legacy with its ancient past.
Earlier this week an invitation addressed to leaders attending the 9-10 September summit summoned them to a state dinner hosted by Indian President Droupadi Murmu, who it called the "President of Bharat".
Soon after, Modi headed to Indonesia for the Asean Indo-Pacific Forum, with official documents describing him as "Prime Minister of Bharat".
Bharat is a Sanskrit name for the subcontinent, and its repeated use sparked frenzied reports that India could join the dozen or so nations that have officially changed their name in recent years.
Such a move would be the boldest action yet to obliterate signs of 200 years of British conquest and garner votes for Modi's nationalist BJP party in 2024 general elections.
‘The Prime Minister Of Bharat’ pic.twitter.com/lHozUHSoC4
— Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) September 5, 2023
Foreign Minister S Jaishankar dismissed the speculation, pointing out that Bharat is already used interchangeably with India in some official contexts.
"It is there in the constitution and I invite everybody to read it," said Jaishankar, referring to Article 1 that reads: "India, that is Bharat, shall be a union of states."
India's Information Minister Anurag Thakur also denied that there were any plans to change name, albeit in ambiguous terms.
"I think these are just rumours which are taking place. All I want to say is that anyone who objects to the word Bharat clearly shows the mindset," Thakur said.
Meanwhile various prominent BJP members publicly supported officially adopting Bharat, with Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan calling it "the biggest statement to come out of the colonial mindset".
Renaming public spaces
India's national anthem uses "Bharat". The country is also sometimes called by pre-colonial names such as Bharatvarsh or Hindustan, but those are rarely used in international treaties or charters.
Several state governments have already renamed cities in India to shed associations with the British Raj, including Mumbai (formerly Bombay) and Chennai (Madras).
The BJP, which rode to power in 2014 on a wave of Hindu nationalism, has since changed the names of towns, streets, airports and stations that recalled India's Muslim Mughal rulers.
Critics have accused the party of seeking to erase parts of the country's history.
Others objected that getting rid of the name India would simply be bad "branding", including Shashi Tharoor, an MP for India's main opposition Congress party.
"I hope the government will not be so foolish as to completely dispense with 'India', which has incalculable brand value built up over centuries," he posted on social media.
"We should continue to use both words rather than relinquish our claim to a name redolent of history, a name that is recognised around the world."
While there is no constitutional objection to calling India “Bharat”, which is one of the country’s two official names, I hope the government will not be so foolish as to completely dispense with “India”, which has incalculable brand value built up over centuries. We should… pic.twitter.com/V6ucaIfWqj
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) September 5, 2023
Some also suspected an attempt to undermine a new opposition coalition, Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance or INDIA, which more than two dozen parties formed in July to challenge the BJP in next year's elections.
But support came from India's former star batsman Virender Sehwag, who urged the national sports authorities to use Bharat on team uniforms at the upcoming Cricket World Cup, which India will host from October to November.
"It has been long overdue to get our original name 'Bharat' back officially," the former Test player tweeted.
