Insight

A responsible govt knows that our country’s priorities are bigger than its name

India and Bharat are synonymous, and the Constitution says that. Both have coexisted since Independence as one
A responsible govt knows that our country’s priorities are bigger than its name
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Everyone would agree including those who are mandated to govern the country that there is a lot to fix in India. Does the name of the country really fit into the list of things this country needs to be fixed? The change of name narrative which has evoked- and understandably so- a flurry of responses, alarm and doubts.

Irrespective of which way this argument goes, the people of this country sincerely hope that this is not a diversionary move to take away real issues that this country needs to be fixed and the government in power is committed to solving.

There is and can never be any debate on the broad non-negotiable issues that need permanent fixing in a country as diverse and challenging as India. Some of them are:

a) Fixing the economy and bringing the growth rate and GDP to their best ever and not just the pre-pandemic levels.

b) Eradicating unemployment and increasing the number of employable.

c) A quantum leap in exports.

d) A quantum leap in foreign direct investment.

e) Maintaining in some and restoring in other areas, an equilibrium in caste and religious imbalances.

f) Restore sanity, humanity and democracy in Manipur.

No responsible government can and will prioritise anything above this, including a change of name for the country. But there too, the irony is that the Supreme Court too has ruled that India doesn’t need a name change. 

Supreme Court has already dismissed a PIL to remove India from the Constitution

In June 2020, the Supreme Court dismissed a PIL seeking to remove ‘India’ from the Constitution and retain only Bharat to “ensure the citizens of this country…get over the colonial past” saying: “India is already called Bharat in the Constitution itself.”

The people of this country have pride in the nation. They live their lives here and each one individually and collectively plan and prepare for the future of themselves and their children here.

Our countrymen believe and have hope in liberty, equality and fraternity in a sovereign socialist secular democratic republic. These guiding principles call for continuous protection. A responsible government will always prioritise securing our guiding principles above anything else.

The word Bharat is mentioned in Article One of the Constitution and is synonymous with India and no government including BJP-led governments paused to even ponder making any changes. Our nation as one is India and Indians are the nation’s backbone.

 You can try and take India out of the Constitution but Indians won’t always be Indians?

India is a state of mind. It has been a part of our identity and psyche for years. Can the essence of the name India in its historical and geographical contest ever change? Moreover, India and Bharat are not contradictory but synonymous.

Constitutional expert PDT Achary was quoted in The Mint stating, “That (change of name) change has to be brought about by an amendment in the Constitution, otherwise India’s name is India only. India that is Bharat written in Article 1 is only descriptive; it is not that these two are interchangeable. It will be suicidal to use them interchangeably. There is only one name for one country.”

India is derived from the Sanskrit word “Sindhu”, which in fact symbolised the presence of civilisation along the Indus River (The Indus Valley Civilisation).

Interestingly the Persian equivalent of Sindhu is Hindu and that is what Persians started calling the Sindhu from 600 BC to 300 BC.

Our country has challenges. It also has opportunities. Both need to be and are expected to be met with, with the full force, power and will of this nation and its Constitution, above anything else.

Therefore, as speculation intensifies over the agenda for the special session of Parliament; the strength of India, its Constitution and its protectors led by the team that governs the country, will ensure that we all abide by and salute the Constitution that has guided us all this while and kept India together. 

India likely to spend 14k cr, more than its food security spend, 
to rebrand to ‘Bharat’  

Sujit Nair, the Editor of HW News in his regular Editorial video blog, while discussing the name change issue brought in an interesting perspective. He said that even for small company to change its name, the rebranding exercise would cost Rs 2 to 3 crore.
A medium-sized company when it changes its name would have to spend Rs 10 to 15 cr.
A large company, on the other hand, would spend hundreds of crores.
Nair then went on to add what it would cost a country like India to rebrand. He in turn quoted a report in the Economic Times, which mentioned that based on India’s revenue receipts of Rs 23.84 lakh crore in the 22-23 fiscal, India may have to spend Rs 14,034 crore in rebranding and renaming the country.
This is more than what India spends on its food security programme, as per the ET report.  Nair went on to say, “If the government is going to spend this amount of money for a feel-good factor or to appease its vote bank, then it will be cheating the people of the country of that money.”


Essence of ‘India’ in historical and geographical contexts cannot change

No responsible government can and will prioritise anything above this, including a change of name for the country. But there too, the irony is that the Supreme Court too has ruled that India doesn’t need a name change.
Supreme Court has already dismissed a PIL to remove India from the Constitution
In June 2020, the Supreme Court dismissed a PIL seeking to remove ‘India’ from the Constitution and retain only Bharat to “ensure the citizens of this country…get over the colonial past” saying: “India is already called Bharat in the Constitution itself.”
The people of this country have pride in the nation. They live their lives here and each one individually and collectively plan and prepare for the future of themselves and their children here.
Our countrymen believe and have hope in liberty, equality and fraternity in a sovereign socialist secular democratic republic. These guiding principles call for continuous protection. A responsible government will always prioritise securing our guiding principles above anything else.
The word Bharat is mentioned in Article One of the Constitution and is synonymous with India and no government including BJP-led governments paused to even ponder making any changes. Our nation as one is India and Indians are the nation’s backbone.
You can try and take India out of the Constitution but Indians won’t always be Indians?
India is a state of mind. It has been a part of our identity and psyche for years. Can the essence of the name India in its historical and geographical contest ever change? Moreover, India and Bharat are not contradictory but synonymous.
Constitutional expert PDT Achary was quoted in The Mint stating, “That (change of name) change has to be brought about by an amendment in the Constitution, otherwise India’s name is India only. India that is Bharat written in Article 1 is only descriptive; it is not that these two are interchangeable. It will be suicidal to use them interchangeably. There is only one name for one country.” India is derived from the Sanskrit word “Sindhu”, which in fact symbolised the presence of civilisation along the Indus River (The Indus Valley Civilisation).
Interestingly the Persian equivalent of Sindhu is Hindu and that is what Persians started calling the Sindhu from 600 BC to 300 BC. 
Our country has challenges. It also has opportunities. Both need to be and are expected to be met with, with the full force, power and will of this 
nation and its Constitution, above 
anything else.
Therefore, as speculation intensifies over the agenda for the special session of Parliament; the strength of India, its Constitution and its protectors led by the team that governs the country, will ensure that we all abide by and salute the Constitution that has guided us all this while and kept India together. 

Herald Goa
www.heraldgoa.in