A few months ago, a Delhi-resident filed a petition to amend the constitution and change India’s name to ‘Bharat’ or ‘Hindustan’. As per various reports, the Supreme Court is all set to hear this plea on June 2nd.
Move to inculcate a sense of ‘pride’
As per the petition, this move is aimed at inculcating a sense of ‘pride’ amongst the citizens. The petition calls for amending Article 1 of the constitution that deals with the name and territory of the union in such a way that “the same refers to the country as Bharat/Hindustan, to the exclusion of India.”
The petition claims that this move will result in us getting over our colonial past. It further mentions that during the 1948 Constituent assembly debate on Article 1 of the then draft constitution, there was a “strong wave” that favored naming the country as “Bharat” or “Hindustan.”
The petition says:”The removal of the English name though appears symbolic, will instill a sense of pride in our own nationality, especially for the future generations to come. In fact, the word India being replaced with Bharat would justify the hard-fought freedom by our ancestors.”
SC to hear the plea on June 2nd
The plea was earlier listed for hearing on 29th May. However, due to the absence of Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde, it was deleted from the list. Nonetheless, as per the latest notice on SC’s website, the hearing is now postponed to June 2nd.
The plea also says that now that cities are being renamed “to identify with Indian Ethos”, the time has come to change the name of the country too.
