India to be renamed Bharat?

[IcyPeas]

India replaces 'India' with ancient name 'Bharat' in dinner invitation to G20 guests.

India was buzzing with speculation over rumoured plans to scrap official use of the country’s English name, after a state-issued invitation to the G20 summit referred to it as Bharat.

The government of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been working to remove lingering symbols of British rule from India’s urban landscape, political institutions and history books, but this could be the biggest move yet.
...
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.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/05/bharat-g20-invitation-fuels-rumours-india-may-change-name?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

[tritsofme]

1. I guess they can call themselves whatever they want, but India is the English language name.

We don’t refer to Deutschland or España, despite what they call themselves in their own language.

[honest.abe]

3. Many countries have had their official names changed in recent history.

Here are just five examples.. there are many more.

-- Persia changed to Iran.
-- Kampuchea changed to Cambodia.
-- Swaziland changed to Eswatini.
-- Ceylon changed to Sri Lanka.
-- Holland changed to the Netherlands.

https://unacademy.com/content/upsc/study-material/general-awareness/countries-that-changed-their-names/

[brooklynite]

6. The Netherlands was never really called "Holland"

"Holland" was a province in the Spanish Netherlands which became the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands and then the Batavia Republic.

The "Kingdom of Holland" was a short-lived client State created by Napoleon, which was replaced by the ""United Provinces of the Netherlands" and now the "Kingdom of the Netherlands"

[honest.abe]

7. It was officially for short time but unofficially for a long time

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland

[brush]

9. And Turkey is now Turiye.

[maxrandb]

12. The United States changed to Dumbfuckistan, but only from 2016-2020

[honest.abe]

14. +1

[EndlessWire]

21. LOL! n/t

[raccoon]

23. Dah winnah!

[Tommy Carcetti]

19. Istanbul was Constantinople

Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night

[IcyPeas]

20. Oh no!!! Earworm 🎵 🎶

[Recycle_Guru]

4. but we rightly refer to Myanmar rather than Burma

Bejing instead of Peking, etc etc

[alittlelark]

2. I like the name.

[hlthe2b]

5. They've been renaming cities, states, and major districts for decades since independence from Brits

so, this probably should come as no surprise.

I worked a while in India several years back and was always amused at the impression that a lot of Indians had around a shared resentment and disdain for the British. Still fresh for them, but obviously not for us.

[boston bean]

10. I still live in a place called New England.

With many British named towns.

[Joinfortmill]

11. Yup.

[JI7]

8. It will hurt tourism and many other things if they remove India

[Happy Hoosier]

13. Meh. They can call themselves what they like. NT

[2naSalit]

15. +1

[Red Mountain]

16. Fine, call it what you want

It's your call.

Just make a decision and let us know how you would like to be addressed.

[malaise]

17. Bharat is also in the Constitution

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-history/india-bharat-name-history-8925757/

There is speculation of an official change in the name of the country from India to Bharat, even though Article 1 of the Constitution uses the two names interchangeably: “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.” Also, several names such as Reserve Bank of India and the Indian Railways already have Hindi variants with “Bharatiya” in them.

[Buns_of_Fire]

18. You called?

[DFW]

22. They will get sued by half the restaurants in London if they go through with it.

Somebody had better give the yellow pages a heads-up, too.

Come to think of it, do you people back in the States even still HAVE yellow pages?

Not only that, think of all the confused kids that will now be playing cowboys and Bharatis.

And then there will be all those Caribbean Islands now in the West Bharatis.

I think I'm going to look into a label-making start-up. Someone is going to make a fortune off of this.