Marumalarachi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) general secretary Vaiko on Saturday said if at all India’s name has to be changed, it should be changed to ‘United States of India’, which would aptly reflect its co-operative federalism.
In a statement, he alleged that Hindutva forces are attempting to rename the country as per their wishes and warned of consequences.
Mr. Vaiko cited a recent plea in the Supreme Court to change India’s name exclusively to ‘Bharat’ and the apex court direction to convert it into a representation and forward it to the Union government for an appropriate decision. He pointed out that the apex court had dismissed a similar petition in 2016 and the current case and its background raises suspicion.
Mr. Vaiko also slammed alleged attempts to bring the country under one nation, one language and one culture through power.
He also said the Centre should take note of C.N. Annadurai’s speech in the Rajya Sabha in April 1962 on federalism, and former president Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy’s speech on India’s unity in diversity.
