The Indian Prime Minister seeks to remove the remaining symbols of British colonialism. Starting with the name of the country which will soon be “Bharat”.

Indians were still speculating on Tuesday following rumors that authorities planned to abandon the official use of their country’s English name, “India”, and call it “Bharat” in official invitations to G20 leaders.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has sought to remove persistent symbols of British colonial rule from urban landscapes, political institutions and history books in what is now the world’s most populous country.

Narendra Modi himself usually uses the word “Bharat” when talking about India, which comes from an ancient Hindu text written in Sanskrit and is one of two official names under its Constitution.

Members of the BJP, the ruling Hindu nationalist party, previously campaigned against the use of the name “India”, which has its roots in Western times and was adopted by the British.

Next weekend, New Delhi will host the G20 summit which will conclude with a state dinner hosted, according to the invitation, by “the president of Bharat”.

More than just a semantic dispute

The government has convened a special session of Parliament later this month, but has remained tight-lipped about its legislative agenda.

However, News18 television channel assured that unnamed government sources have said that BJP MPs will table a special resolution on this occasion with a view to prioritizing the official use of the term “Bharat”.

Rumors about this project were enough to trigger mixed reactions among Narendra Modi’s opponents and enthusiastic support from others.

“I hope the government is not so stupid without ‘India’ all the way,” commented Shashi Tharoor, an official from the opposition Congress party, on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“We must continue to use both words” and not let go of “a name that is rich in history, a name that is recognized throughout the world,” he added.

Former cricketer Virender Sehwag welcomed the prospect of the name change and urged the Indian Cricket Board to start using “Bharat” on the team’s jersey.

“India is the name given by the British (and) it is time we get back our original name ‘Bharat’,” he argued.

For decades, Indian governments of all stripes have sought to erase traces of the British colonial era by renaming streets and even entire cities.

This process has intensified since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister (2014) and in his public speeches emphasized the need for India to abandon the nuances of the “colonial mentality”.