Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared at the G20 meeting behind a country tag that said Bharat, not India.
Suddenly the question was everywhere: Will the country of more than 1.4 billion people now be called by its ancient Sanskrit name?
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's ministers and his Hindu nationalist supporters believe India should
officially be called Bharat. However, there is controversy with opposition
leader Rahul Ghandi.
One country, three names
1. Bharat:
The name "Bharat" refers to the ancient name of India and has its
roots in Indian mythology. Bharat was the name of an ancient king and is also
associated with the legendary hero Bharata, a figure mentioned in ancient
Indian texts two thousand years ago. Over time, the term "Bharat"
came to be associated with the entire Indian subcontinent and is now one of the
official names for the Republic of India in the Hindi language.
2. Hindu:
The term "Hindu" originally referred to the people living in the
region near the Indus River, which flows in what is now modern-day Pakistan.
This term was used by Persian and Greek travelers and historians as early as
the 6th century BCE to describe the people of the Indian subcontinent. The
Greeks, including Alexander the Great, came into contact with these people
during their expeditions, and the term "Hindu" gradually became a
broader term used to describe the religious, cultural, and geographical aspects
of the Indian subcontinent.
3. India:
The name "India" is derived from the word "Indus," which is
the name of a major river in the region. The ancient Greeks, including
Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE, referred to the region as
"Indoi" or "Indika," which eventually evolved into
"India" as it is known today. This name has been used for centuries
to describe the entire Indian subcontinent and became more widely adopted over
time. The usage of "British India
began in the mid-19th century, particularly after 1857 when formal British
control was established over India.
Mr Modi's ruling Bharatiya
Janata Party believes that "India" is tied to colonialism and
slavery.
Officially, the Indian
government has made no decision and issued no statement, and one senior leader
dismissed the speculations of a name change as "just rumors."
"Modi wants to change the name of the country. It
is absurd…," opposition leader Mr Gandhi told Al Jazeera.
From Sky News (edited)
