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In this editorial episode, Mr. Sujit Nair discusses a recent controversy surrounding President Murmu's invitation to G20 leaders. The controversy arises from the use of the term 'President of Bharat' instead of 'President of India' in the official invitations. This change has led to a significant political debate, with the opposition accusing the ruling BJP of attempting to rebrand the country for political gains.

For the first time, official invitations have been sent to heads of state for a dinner event on September 9 in Delhi under the title of ""President of Bharat,"" departing from the traditional ""President of India.""

This shift in nomenclature on the international stage has garnered attention as India prepares to host world leaders such as US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

There is speculation about the possibility of the government officially changing the country's name during a five-day special session of parliament scheduled for September 18. In response, the opposition has held meetings to discuss their strategy, denying reports that they would skip the session.

In defense of the change, BJP leaders have pointed out that the term ""Bharat"" is also mentioned in Article 1 of the Constitution, which states that ""India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.""

Opposition parties have linked the government's move to the name of their alliance formed to challenge the BJP in the 2024 elections, which is named INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance). Leaders of the INDIA bloc met to discuss their strategy at the home of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

The debate between ""India"" and ""Bharat"" has intensified since the opposition alliance adopted the acronym INDIA in July. Meanwhile, BJP leaders have welcomed the use of the term ""Bharat,"" seeing it as a positive step that reflects national pride and a departure from colonial influences. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stated that the President's choice to use ""Bharat"" is a significant statement against colonial mindsets.

#Bharat #PMModi #G20 #Constitution #India #Congress #indiathatisbharat #PresidentOfIndia #President #PresidentOfBharat #Nehru #RSS #PresidentMurmu #VHP #G20Summit #Delhi #HWNews #SujitNair
Transcript
00:00 Namaskar, welcome to another episode of Editorial.
00:05 Now according to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, President Murmu was addressed as President
00:12 of Bharat on her G20 Summit invite.
00:16 Not President of India, but President of Bharat.
00:19 Now this gave birth to this new debate.
00:23 Is India going to be renamed as Bharat?
00:27 Now that is the question we ask tonight.
00:30 Let us get right into the show and discuss this threadbare.
00:37 Ok so let us get into detail.
00:42 Let us first talk about the name Bharat and India.
00:47 The origin, how did it happen?
00:50 Then let us talk about the constitution, how constitution views Bharat and India.
00:57 Then let us talk about the debate, whether India will be renamed Bharat by Bharatiya
01:04 Janata Party, if yes, why?
01:07 That is how we will go into this editorial.
01:10 So first let us talk about the name Bharat.
01:15 Now Bharat is how India was known traditionally, always.
01:21 This nation was known as Bharat.
01:24 So the name Bharat is part of our culture, part of our tradition, part of Hindu religion
01:28 because Bharat Varsha is mentioned in the Vishnu Puran.
01:32 So Bharat is tradition of India.
01:36 As we were invaded, as British came in, we got this name called India and India obviously
01:44 came from Indus.
01:47 So incidentally the Britishers would call us India, Mughals would call us Hindustan.
01:54 That is a different name.
01:55 We will talk about it later on.
01:57 So somewhere down the line, the Britishers started calling us India and therefore the
02:03 name India was spread across the globe to a very major extent by Britishers.
02:11 Now let us go further.
02:14 Now let us come to our constitution.
02:18 Article 1(1) of the constitution reads India, that is Bharat shall be a union of states.
02:28 This is what our article states.
02:31 Our article states that India technically has two names and both are official, India
02:38 and Bharat.
02:39 Now to this, let me tell you, during the Constituent Assembly, H.V.
02:45 Kamath had taken objection to this.
02:48 The debate opened with H.V.
02:50 Kamath, a member of the Constituent Assembly from the central province of Birar.
02:56 Kamath objected to the Ambedkar Committee's draft that had two names, India and Bharat.
03:05 Kamath proposed the amendment to Article 1, putting Bharat as alternatively Hindi as primary
03:13 name for the country and pronouncing India only as the name in English language.
03:21 He went on at length in the Constituent Assembly to assert that Namakaran, that is naming ceremony,
03:28 should be taken up more seriously.
03:30 He enlisted names such as Hindustan, Hind, Bharat Bhoomi, Bharat Varsh etc. to have been
03:37 suggested by people.
03:40 When Kamath began elaborating the origin of the name Bharat, Bharat Bhoomi, Bharat Varsh
03:45 dating to ancient times, Ambedkar interjected and cut his speech short.
03:52 Kamath snapped back at Ambedkar, telling him to let the chairman Rajendra Prasad run the
03:57 house.
03:58 An exchange took place between Kamath and Prasad, following which he moved Bharat as
04:04 the amended name for India.
04:07 Kamath was strongly opposed to the language of Article 1 that said India, that is Bharat.
04:14 So Kamath was not very happy with using the word India as Bharat.
04:19 But finally as things happened, Rajendra Prasad put the amendment to vote and it fell.
04:26 Article 1 remained intact as India, that is Bharat.
04:31 However, the debate continued.
04:34 So it was put to vote, what Dr. Bhabasaheb Ambedkar said, that is correct, that is Article
04:41 1, is that language correct or not?
04:44 The entire Constituent Assembly voted for Article 1, 1 and Kamath, his proposition was
04:51 rejected.
04:54 This is how India, that is Bharat remained.
04:58 Now like I said, the debate continued.
05:02 In fact, in 2014, Yogi Adityanath had moved a private members bill in Lok Sabha seeking
05:11 substitution of the word India in the constitution with Hindustan, proposing Bharat as primary
05:19 name of the country.
05:21 This bill proposed to amend the language of Article 1 as Bharat, that is Hindustan, shall
05:27 be the Union of States.
05:29 So why am I not surprised that Yogi Adityanath wanted to change the name in 2014.
05:37 He said other than saying that India, that is Bharat, he says Bharat, that is Hindustan,
05:44 will be the Union of States.
05:45 So he wanted to change the name then, but obviously it didn't happen.
05:50 So this is what was discussed, this is what happened in the Constituent Assembly, this
05:55 is what happened, this is how it is mentioned in our constitution.
05:58 Now let us get further.
06:04 All of a sudden, this sudden move by the government of India to invite the President as President
06:14 of Bharat instead of President of India has brought about a lot of debates, lot of discussion,
06:22 lot of questions whether is the government planning to change India into Bharat?
06:30 Is it that?
06:31 And if so, why is this government planning to change India into Bharat?
06:38 Now mind you, a lot has changed since 1947, a lot has changed since 1950s, a lot has changed
06:48 since 1960s, a lot has changed.
06:52 Today India and Bharat are not just two names.
06:57 If you look at it practically, India and Bharat are seen as two different ideologies.
07:03 India, that stands for modern India, that stands for development, that stands as a global
07:09 face, as a global brand and Bharat, a traditional face, traditional brand and also the fact
07:18 that Bharat is seen with a communal identity.
07:21 More than before, to my mind, Bharat identifies itself with Hindutva more than anything else.
07:31 This is how Bharat and India are seen today.
07:33 Now whether that is right or wrong, that is a different issue, but that is how practically
07:38 people see it on ground.
07:40 Number two, India Alliance, the name India Alliance, all of a sudden set a lot of panic
07:47 within the Bharatiya Janata Party.
07:49 I have said this before, I am saying it once again.
07:52 The name has set a lot of panic amongst Bharatiya Janata Party and if you see, right after India
07:58 Alliance was announced, a lot of Bharatiya Janata Party leaders even changed their Twitter
08:05 handle, especially Hemanta Biswa Sarma had changed his Twitter identity from India to
08:12 Bharat.
08:13 So, a lot of people also changed from India to Bharat after India Alliance took off.
08:18 Thirdly, and most importantly, you see, Bharat is a name that has been used extensively by
08:25 the Hindu cultural organizations, organizations like RSS, organizations like Vishwa Hindu
08:31 Parishad.
08:32 Now, renaming Bharat, renaming India to Bharat or only sticking to Bharat or rebranding India
08:43 to Bharat would also endorse a lot of propositions that were mooted by these organizations.
08:56 Akhanda Bharat for instance.
08:58 Bharat will take India closer to the concept of Hindu Rashtra, closer, not that because
09:06 you name Bharat, India to Bharat, therefore, we will overnight change it to Hindu Rashtra
09:11 and all that, all that may not happen, but it will be seen a step towards the concept
09:18 of Hindu Rashtra.
09:19 It will be seen a step towards a concept of Akhanda Bharat, which has always been a dream
09:26 of these Hindu cultural organizations.
09:30 So somewhere down the line, the name Bharat will bring India closer to the RSS-VHP ideology,
09:41 RSS-VHP dream of the way they designed and saw India.
09:47 So these are the three major factors that one sees that may come through if India is
09:54 renamed or India is rebranded Bharat.
09:58 Now last but not the least, the point that I want to make.
10:06 A renaming or rebranding of India to Bharat, at least at this juncture, would definitely
10:15 be seen as Bharatiya Janata Party's commitment towards Hindutva in India.
10:22 It will be seen as reinforcing their commitment towards Hindutva and everything that they
10:28 have been standing for, everything that they have been talking about.
10:33 In fact, renaming currently will also be seen as an election stunt, something that may win
10:41 them a lot of kudos from their voters, their support base, that is the Hindutva support
10:47 base.
10:49 So that's the point, that's the way I see it.
10:52 Now that being said, let me reiterate and let me re-emphasize the fact that there has
10:58 been no official communication, no official statement from Bharatiya Janata Party or the
11:04 Government of India that there is going to be any change in the name.
11:08 There has been no official communication whatsoever and was based on a hypothetical situation.
11:15 So that's the point I wanted to make and till I see you next time, that's tomorrow at 10
11:19 pm.
11:20 Namaskar.
11:21 [Music]
11:26 [Music]
11:35 (dramatic music)

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