A state-issued invitation to this weekend's G20 summit that refers to India as Bharat has fueled speculation that the country is considering changing its name as part of a campaign to shed its colonial ties.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has worked consistently to remove any lingering symbols of British rule since he was sworn in as India's 14th prime minister in 2014, though changing India's name would be the biggest and boldest move to date.
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The word "India" has been replaced with the Sanskrit word "Bharat" in a dinner invitation sent to guests attending the G20 summit.
The Asian nation of 1.4 billion people is known both domestically and internationally as India and Bharat, though India is most commonly used.
Bharat is an ancient Sanskrit word that many historians believe dates back to early Hindu texts. The word also means India in Hindi, one of the many languages spoken in the country.
Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, claims that the name India was introduced by British colonialists and is a symbol of oppression and slavery. The British ruled India from 1858 until India gained independence in 1947.
Pushkar Dhami, an elected official from Uttarakhand and a BJP leader, called a name change "another blow to slavery mentality" in a social media post.
The country's opposition parties have criticized the possible move, calling it foolish and claiming "India" has "an incalculable brand value built up over centuries" that is recognized internationally.
“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,” opposition lawmaker Shashi Tharoor posted on social media.
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
The government has called a special session of Parliament for Sept. 18-22 in which it is rumored to be taking up the name change issue, India Today reported.
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This isn't the first time India has scrapped the British name of a place.
In 2001, the government of West Bengal changed its capital city's name to Kolkata from Calcutta to reflect its original Bengali pronunciation. In 1995, Bombay was changed to Mumbai. Bombay was largely seen as a legacy of colonialism, while Mumbai reflected the area's Maratha heritage. A year later, Madras was changed to Chennai. Madras was the shortened name of the fishing village Madraspatnam, where the British East India Company built a fort and trading post.