India that is Bharat and the Constituent Assembly

India that is Bharat and the Constituent Assembly

Subject: Polity

Section: Constitution

Context; A political row has erupted after invites for a dinner to be hosted by the President for world leaders, during the upcoming G20 Summit, were sent out in the name of the ‘President of Bharat’ instead of the customary ‘President of India’.

What was the view of Constituent Assembly:

• In his ‘Discovery of India’, Nehru referred to “India”, “Bharata” and “Hindustan”, but when the question of naming India in the Constitution arose, ‘Hindustan’ was dropped and both ‘Bharat’ and ‘India’ were retained.
• During the Constituent Assembly debates the “Name and territory of the Union” was taken up for discussion on September 17, 1949.
• Right from the time Article 1 was read out as “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States”, a division arose among the members.
• There were quite a few members who were against the use of the name ‘India’, which they saw as being a reminder of the colonial past.
• HV Kamath suggested that the first article should read, “Bharat, or in the English language, India, shall be…”.
• Hargovind Pant, who represented the hill districts of the United Provinces, made it clear that the people of Northern India “wanted Bharatvarsha and nothing else”.
• None of the suggestions were accepted, illustrating contrasting visions of the budding nation.
• The draft Article 1 of the Constitution – “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States” – was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on September 18, 1949.
• Apart from Article 1, the Constitution, originally drafted in English does not refer to “Bharat” in any other provision. The Preamble also refers to “We the People of India.”

What are the recent attempts of Name Change of the Nation:

• In 2004, the Uttar Pradesh Assemblypassed a resolution that the Constitution must be amended to say “Bharat, that is India,” instead of “India, that is Bharat.” 
• In 2020, the Supreme Court had dismissed a PIL seeking to remove “India” from the Constitution and retain only Bharat in order to ensure the citizens of this country get over the colonial past.
• The apex court held that “India is already called Bharat in the Constitution itself.”
• In his Independence Day address 2022, the Indian PM had spoken about the “Panch Pran”, stressing the need to decolonise minds and taking pride in India’s civilisational heritage.
• A government booklet on the Indian PM’s upcoming visit to Indonesia for the 20th ASEAN-India Summit and the 18th East Asia Summit referred to him as the “Prime Minister of Bharat”.