INDIA’S government is likely to bring a resolution to rename the country as “Bharat”, media reports have said.
President Draupadi Murmu’s invite to G20 heads of state for a dinner later this week came in the name of “President of Bharat” instead of the usual ‘President of India’.
This triggered speculations about renaming the country, which has long been a demand of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s senior functionaries and the outfit’s affiliates.
The government of prime minister Narendra Modi is likely to introduce a resolution for a change of name’ in the upcoming special session of parliament beginning on September 18, a CNBC TV18 report said on Tuesday (5).
While Modi has repeatedly called on Indians to come out of the ‘mentality of slavery’ - interpreted as a colonial mindset - the government is planning to remove the word “India" from the Constitution, News18 reported citing sources.
As the topic became a top trend on social media, opposition parties sought to know what prompted the government to change the name “suddenly”.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, a prominent figure of the opposition block INDIA (Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance), said, “What happened suddenly that they had to change the name of the country?... History is being rewritten in the country."
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor admitted Bharat and India are two official names of the country but warned the government against fully erasing the latter, saying such a move could be “foolish”.
“While there is no constitutional objection to calling India “Bharat”, which is one of the country’s two official names, I hope the government will not be so foolish as to completely dispense with “India”, which has incalculable brand value built up over centuries”, he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“We should continue to use both words rather than relinquish our claim to a name redolent of history, a name that is recognised around the world,” the former minister said.
But BJP leader JP Nadda hit back at the Congress, asking why the party had “so much objection to every subject related to the honour and pride of the country?"
Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of the nationalist outfit RSS - the BJP’s ideological fountainhead - had previously urged people to call the country ‘Bharat’ and not India.
India has changed the names of several places in the past few decades to bring back what many people call “Indianness”.
Bombay has been renamed as Mumbai, Bangalore as Bengaluru, Calcutta as Kolkata, Madras as Chennai and Banaras as Varanasi.
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)