India
Delhi based "farmer" moves SC to change name of country to "Bharat" or "Hindustan" A fresh Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in SC has sought for the country's name to be change the name of the country from India to its “authentic” name “Bharat”.2 days ago
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Delhi based "farmer" moves SC to change name of country to "Bharat"
A fresh Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in SC has sought for the country’s name to be change the name of the country from India to its “authentic” name “Bharat”.
The petitioner argues that it will help the country get over its colonial past. The plea argues that the name “India” is symbolic of English rulers, a symbol of slavery and a relic of British Raj. As per the plea, a change in name would “instill a sense of pride in our own nationality”.
The PIL seeks for an amendment to Article 1 of the constitution. The article 1 currently states – “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States”. The PIL hopes to change it to “Bharat / Hindustan is a Union of States”.
The plea argues that since names of many cities have already been changed, time is now “ripe” to recognize the country by its “original and authentic name”.
As per the plea, a change in name will instill pride in the minds of the citizens, “for generations to come”.
This would not be the first time that such a petition has been moved before the SC. In Mar 2016, the then CJI Justice TS Thakur led bench of SC had rejected a similar plea. The SC had then slammed the petitioner, reminding him that PILs were meant for defending rights of the poor. Former CJI Justice TS Thakur had lashed out saying, “You think we have nothing else to do”.
Speaking recently to CNBC TV18, advocate Amit Hingorani, the son of Kapila Hingorani, also known as “Mother of PILs”, had also lamented that PILs are no longer being used for the purpose they were conceived – securing rights and justice for marginalized and underprivileged. He had noted that PILs had been hijacked by “middle class interests”.
