Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has replaced the name India with a Sanskrit word in dinner invitations sent to guests attending this week’s Group of 20 summit, in a move that reflects his Hindu nationalist party’s efforts to eliminate what it...

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/4495502

Britain renamed Bharat to India when it was colonized, and the name is a symbol of colonial slavery.

  • COMHASH
    231·
    10 months ago

    You got it wrong. British didn’t rename India. India was called India by anglophone countries and bharat is a sanskrit name which is hated in South india so our freedom fighters and INC chose the name India and along with its hindi version bharat. Modi government is all about gimmick and mockery of everything logical that’s why they are having this name changing spree without any factual people’s development . Note we have 2000 languages and we don’t say “bharat” except the indo European languages . And if these wanna be decolonizers want an ancient name why not put “Hindustan”… The grand original name of United India used both by Subhas bose and Pakistanis… Lol… Because it sounds persianized.

    • relayEnglish
      8·
      10 months ago

      wouldn’t Hindustan imply that the Muslims don’t belong in the country? But they are so racist they don’t want to sound Persian? interesting.

      • cfgaussian
        9·
        10 months ago

        Hindustani is a language spoken by both Hindus and Muslims (in both India and Pakistan) as Hindi and Urdu are essentially variants of it. Thus technically Hindustan is a religiously neutral term. The problem is that it only represents north-west India where this language is predominantly spoken. The rest of India would therefore not identify with this name which is also the problem with Bharat. Unfortunately due to India’s extremely diverse multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious composition there is no optimal solution to this problem.

          • cfgaussian
            31·
            10 months ago

            And yet over time it became accepted by most of the subcontinent. Probably the same can happen with Bharat given enough time.

            But ultimately this is not about what Indians call their own country, it’s about a naming convention in the anglophone world. It’s as if Germany tomorrow decided to demand that English speakers would be required to call their country Deutschland. It’s doable but it will take time for people to adapt and some will still never let go of the old name they have become accustomed to using.

            And that would still just be for English, other languages would still have their own names for some countries, like the Polish Niemcy for Germany.

            Personally i have no opinion on this either way except to say that out of habit i will probably still sometimes use the name i originally learned.

            • PolandIsAStateOfMind
              51·
              10 months ago

              It’s as if Germany tomorrow decided to demand that English speakers would be required to call their country Deutschland.

              Turkey did exactly that.

              Ukraine even tried to rename… Russia.

              • cfgaussian
                21·
                10 months ago

                Well, in Turkey’s case it’s easier because the old and the new variant sound and are spelled very similarly so nobody will be confused no matter which you use.

                As for the other one, well… Ukraine be crazy right now is all i can say to that.

        • relayEnglish
          4·
          10 months ago

          What book in English would you recommend about India’s internal politics and unity?

          • cfgaussian
            6·
            10 months ago

            You’ll have to ask someone else i’m afraid, my own knowledge on this subject is rather limited.

            • relayEnglish
              3·
              10 months ago

              I appreciate your honesty.

      • COMHASH
        61·
        10 months ago

        All Mughal emperors called India “Hindustan” Starting from babur to Aurangzeb. Lol. Lets that sink in… Here hindu means those who live beyond hindu kush mountains or river Indus.