Manveena Suri and Helen Regan, CNN
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Dinner invites referring to India by <\/strong>its Sanskrit name <\/strong>have fueled a political row and public debate over what the country should be called, its history and colonial legacy as New Delhi prepares to welcome world leaders for the G20 summit.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Invites issued by the \u201cPresident of Bharat,\u201d instead of the customary \u201cPresident of India,\u201d were sent to delegates from the world\u2019s 20 top economies for a dinner to be hosted by Indian President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday, according to a source in her office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both India and Bharat are used officially in the nation of 1.4 billion people, which has more than 20 official languages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIndia, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States,\u201d the country\u2019s constitution states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bharat is also the Hindi word for India and is used interchangeably \u2013 both feature on Indian passports for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But its use on the invites marks a notable change in the naming convention used by the country on the international stage under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Britain ruled India for about 200 years until it gained independence in 1947 and those who prefer Bharat say the name the country is best known by globally is a remnant of the colonial era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The name India has been derived by ancient Western civilizations from the Sanskrit word for the Indus River \u2013 Sindhu \u2013 and was later adapted by the British Empire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe word \u2018India\u2019 is an abuse given to us by the British, whereas the word \u2018Bharat\u2019 is a symbol of our culture,\u201d Harnath Singh Yadav, a BJP politician, told Indian broadcaster ANI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, former India cricket star Virender Sehwag urged the sport\u2019s officials to use Bharat on players\u2019 shirts during the Men\u2019s Cricket World Cup, which will be held in India this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are Bhartiyas, India is a name given by the British and it has been long overdue to get our original name \u2018Bharat\u2019 back officially,\u201d he said on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During its time in power, Modi\u2019s government has made steps <\/a>to steer the country away from what it has called \u201cvestiges of British rule\u201d and to free itself from its \u201ccolonial baggage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n These efforts also include renaming roads and buildings related to both India\u2019s Mughal as well as its colonial past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, in 2022, the government renamed Rajpath, a 3-kilometer (1.8-mile) boulevard formerly known as Kingsway that runs through the heart of New Delhi. The new official name, Kartavya Path, would \u201cremove any trace of colonial mindset,\u201d the government said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And in 2018, three Indian islands named after British rulers were renamed in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, to erase \u201cthese signs of slavery.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the use of \u201cBharat\u201d on the G20 invites has raised eyebrows among opposition leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile there is no constitutional objection to calling India \u2018Bharat\u2019, which is one of the country\u2019s two official names, I hope the government will not be so foolish as to completely dispense with \u2018India\u2019, which has incalculable brand value built up over centuries,\u201d Shashi Tharoor, a former diplomat and prominent lawmaker from the main opposition Congress party, said on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tharoor is also the author of \u201cInglorious Empire\u201d, a work of non-fiction that excoriates colonial Britain\u2019s rule of India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In July, the leaders from 26 Indian opposition parties formed an alliance<\/a> \u2013 known as INDIA (or the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) \u2013 in a bid to unseat Modi in the next general election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Coined to evoke a sense of nationalism ahead of the 2024 polls, the INDIA alliance said its goal was upholding the country\u2019s democratic institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Modi\u2019s government has come under scrutiny<\/a> from rights groups and opposition lawmakers for its increasingly strident brand of Hindu nationalist politics, an ongoing crackdown on dissent, and a tightening grip<\/a> on the country\u2019s democratic institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The G20 summit is a first for India as Modi aims to raise New Delhi\u2019s global clout following nearly a decade-long tenure in power in which he has positioned himself as a leader intent on shedding the country\u2019s colonial past \u2013\u00a0emphasizing<\/a>\u00a0the need to \u201cliberate ourselves from the slavery mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat\u2019s in a name?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n