By IANS,
Panaji, Aug 9 (IANS) India should be renamed Bharat in the constitution of the country, a Congress parliamentarian has demanded in a constitutional amendment bill introduced in parliament Thursday.
Congress MP from Goa Shantaram Naik, in the statement of objects and reasons of the bill, has said that ‘Bharat’ was a much more wholesome concept and that the word ‘India’ merely indicates territorial dimensions of the country.
‘India’ denotes a territorial concept whereas ‘Bharat’ signifies much more than the mere territories. “When we praise our country, we say, ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and not ‘India ki Jai’,” Naik’s bill stated.
Naik’s earlier bill on the subject introduced in the Rajya Sabha had lapsed on account of his term coming to an end. However, after his re-election, he has reintroduced the bill.
“The grounds for changing the name of the country into simply ‘Bharat’ are many. But, more than grounds or reasons, it is the sense of patriotism that the name generates and electrifies the people of this country that is relevant,” Naik told IANS over phone from New Delhi.