World leaders received an invitation to the G20 summit, where “India” was replaced with Hindu nomenclature
India could be officially renamed Bharat by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to sources close to the government. Speculation about the name change increased with the publication of an invitation to the G20 summit, which will be held in the capital New Delhi on September 9th and 10th. The information comes from the Guardian.
This Tuesday (September 5, 2023), heads of state from the world’s major economies received an invitation to a dinner hosted by the “President of Bharat,” meaning Indian leader Droupadi Murmu.
“Another blow to the slavery mentality,” Modi’s party leader Pushkar Singh Dhami wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) profile. In the publication, he shared the dinner invitation sent to G20 guests.
गुलामी की मानसिकता पर एक और गहरी चोट..
G20 े निमंत॥ सी के लिए गौरव का क्षण है।
भारत माता कीजय! pic.twitter.com/IdAgHGRt36
— Pushkar Singh Dhami (@pushkardhami) September 5, 2023
The term “Bharat” has its roots in ancient Hindu scriptures and is one of the two official names of the country according to the constitution. However, “India” is most commonly used, both domestically and internationally. Sources close to the government say the Indian prime minister intends to make official the use of the nomenclature to describe the country during a special session of Parliament this month.
Other members of the Hindu nationalist ruling party Bharatiya Janata (Indian People’s Party, in Portuguese) have already spoken out against the name “India,” which is of Western origin and introduced during British rule.
Narendra Modi’s government had worked to remove remaining symbols of colonialism from India’s urban landscape, political institutions and history books. In the parliamentary session, MPs allied with the prime minister are expected to table a resolution on the official use of “Bharat”.