Only Bharat: RSS arm plans mega drive to drop 'India' name altogether
Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas, which had played a role in shaping NEP, is pushing 'One Nation, One Name, Bharat, Not India' campaign; this is seen to benefit BJP
"India, that is Bharat, is a Union of States”, says the Constitution.
For 75 years now, the two names have been official and legal for juridico-political purposes. If an RSS affiliate has its way, 'India' may be dropped altogether from the scheme of things, and 'Bharat' made the only name of the country.
With just a week left for the 45-day-long Maha Kumbh to conclude in Prayagraj, the Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas (SSUN), an RSS affiliate, is going ahead with a nationwide campaign to rename India as Bharat. The SSUN plan — backed by the RSS leadership — is for a pan-India campaign for a constitutional amendment to rename the nation 'Bharat', and to wipe out any reference to 'India'.
The decision coincides with the 100th anniversary of the RSS, which the saffron body is all set to celebrate.
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One name, not India
Suresh Gupta, a senior member of SSUN, told The Federal: “No country in the world has two names, so we have launched a campaign, 'Ek Desh, Ek Naam, Bharat, India Nahi' (One Nation, One Name, Bharat, Not India)."
(To say that no other nation has two names is not fully correct — for example, Japan is 'Nippon' locally, and 'Côte d'Ivoire' is the official name of Ivory Coast.)
"We have launched this campaign from Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj and we plan to get at least 10 lakh signatures from across the country to demand that India should be named as Bharat," Gupta added. "Although we have confirmation that 27 lakh people want to give their signatures, we want to get at least 10 lakhs to kick-start the campaign.”
The Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas aims to "reform" the education system by "promoting Indian culture, values, and traditions in academics". The SSUN has been involved in advocating the removal of "colonial distortions" from textbooks, and played a role in influencing aspects of the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Roping in Murmu
Now, the SSUN plans to collect the signatures of over 10 lakh people, ask President Droupadi Murmu to join the campaign and get the amendment process started.
“We only want India to be renamed as Bharat because it has a strong cultural influence. We are not ready to accept any other name, not even Hindustan. We believe that India should be only named Bharat,” Gupta asserted.
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While the RSS affiliate formally starts a nationwide campaign to change the country's name, the Union government has also taken the lead to use the word Bharat instead of India.
The first reference
The first step by the Union government was taken in 2023, during the G-20 summit in India, when Modi used the name Bharat instead of India. The official invite for a banquet hosted by Murmu for the dignitaries was sent in the name of 'President of Bharat'. This was the first time that an official invite was sent in the name of President of Bharat and not President of India.
“We have decided that during the signature campaign, we will remind people that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already used Bharat and President Droupadi Murmu has also used Bharat instead of India,” Gupta said.
The name of the campaign, One Nation, One Name, Bharat, Not India, is significant because it reflects the mood of the Union government that has been pushing One Nation, One Election legislatively. The BJP government has also talked about One Nation, One Law for the contentious Uniform Civil Code (UCC).
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Big on Bharat
Dilip Deodhar, Nagpur-based author and RSS observer, told The Federal, “The name Bharat has its reference in the Rig Veda, Jain literature and also in Buddhist literature. But the name India comes from the name Indica, which was given to us by the Greeks. Similarly, the name Hindustan was given to us by the central Asians. However, people are not aware that the name Indica and Hindustan are also part of our culture and heritage."
He continued, "This debate about which name to use for our country will continue but the Constitution of India has accepted both India and Bharat. When Modi used Bharat in his name plate or President invited the dignitaries as President of Bharat during the G-20 meet, it did not mean that the name India was being rejected."
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Earlier campaigns
This is not the first time the SSUN has started such a campaign. The organisation was earlier involved in another campaign that wanted the Union government to ensure primary education is provided in Indian languages.
Notably, the Union government has included this demand in the National Education Policy (NEP).
“We have been demanding that primary education should happen in Bharatiya bhasha (Indian languages). We have also been asking the Union government to ensure Indian languages should also be used in secondary school education,” Gupta said.
Beneficial for BJP
Political analysts believe the nationwide campaign to change the name of India can benefit the BJP politically.
“The name Bharat is part of our culture. It is probably why the RSS affiliate is making these demands. The move will definitely be beneficial for the BJP politically and it will unite all its supporters,” SK Dwivedi, Lucknow-based political analyst, told The Federal.
