India, that is Bharat.....

 William Shakespeare is back on the debate table along with his oft quoted proverbial statement- What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet. But  as the Shakespearean grandeur seems a distant dream so does his assertion, at least to the prophets of identity politics. They always prefer to find out different avenues of  to match their needs. Therefore they are often overenthusiastic about changing the names of monuments, stadiums, roads and even the country. It helps them to bind the people with their own narrative by focusing on their distinctive interpretation of history. Thus Bombay became Mumbai, Madras became Chennai, Calcutta became Kolkata, Allahabad became Prayagraj, Mughalsarai became Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Nagar so on and so forth. Now there is a strong argument in favour of changing the name of the country from India to Bharat.

Although according to the Article 1 of the Indian Constitution India and Bharat are synonymous but among the international community the country is known as India, even in the United Nations. Recently the controversy erupted when  the dinner invitation to the foreign leaders of G20 summit President Droupadi Murmu was mentioned as the President of Bharat. At that time  when asked about the name change, UN secretary general's chief spokesperson Stephane Dujaric reiterated, "When India completes the formalities to change the name, they will inform us and we will change the name at the UN records." The bill that has been tabled in the Lok Sabha on 11th August ,2023 has been named The Bharatiya Nyay Samhita, 2023, which will replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860. Then came the NCERT controversy. An expert panel of the autonomous body suggested replacing the name India with Bharat in the textbooks. 

As the each and every passing day approaches towards the General Election 2024, the India- Bharat controversy is expected to be raked up in different social media platforms with a conscious effort to snatch the limelight from the opposition block. The India-Bharat controversy certainly took to the centre stage after 18th July, 2023 when the Indian National Congress and other parties of the oppostion met in Benglaluru to name their alliance. In the evening they came up with the name Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance acronym-ed as I.N.D.I.A . They tried to float the idea that BJP led NDA is against India and they attack and destroy the very foundation of the nation. Instead of challenging the opposition narratives the BJP led NDA found it convenient to rake up the India-Bharat controversy. 

Changing the name of a country is not a unique one. Many countries across the world have changed their name in the past.In recent years Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan proclaimed that Turkey will be identified as Turkiye as the word Turkiye represents and expresses the culture, civilisation and values of the Turkish nation in the best way. Likewise Persia was changed to Iran in 1935, Ceylon was changed to Sri lanka in 1972, In 1989 Burma was changed to Myanmar. From January, 2020 Holland officially came to be known as Netherlands.Examples are many but the motivation is the same- to uphold and preserve the culture, civilisation and values of the land which is supposed to be at danger from the alien populace. 

 There are other countries like Japan which is called Nippon in their own language and  never ashamed of using the both. But by reviving the memory of  olden days in golden frame overawes a large section of population by satisfying mass conceit. But does it have a point? Can we deny that we were colonised some time in the past? Can we take the clock to precolonial era only by changing names of cities or streets or buildings? Isn't the colonial era an important part of our history? The questions remain.

The process of nation building does not always provide the opportunity to pick and choose. Sometimes it forces to accept the harsh reality of history. It goes through the long periods of history which has the points of zenith as well as nadir. We can relish our success and also learn from our failure. But we cant outcast our colonial past which is embedded in our history. The game of cricket is often considered a religion in our country. There is a palpable craze about the game all across the nation. Can we outcast the game in pursuit of  nationalistic fervour?