Replacement of word 'India' to 'Bharat' : Supreme Court to hear plea on 2 june

A public interest litigation(PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court demanding that the country should not be addressed 'India' but 'Bharat' or 'Hindustan'. For this, the government should be directed to amend the constitution. The Supreme Court has accepted this petition and will now hear it on 2 June. The petition claimed that the words Bharat or Hindustan evoke a sense of pride towards our nationality.

The petition was to be heard on Friday before a bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde but it was dropped from the list. According to the notice uploaded on the apex court website, the matter will now be heard by a bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde on June 2.

The petition has requested the government to take appropriate steps to amend Article 1 of the Constitution by removing the word India and calling the country as Bharat or Hindustan. This article is related to the name of this republic. This petition has been filed by a Delhi based farmer and has claimed that this amendment will ensure the liberation of the citizens of this country from the colonial past.

The petition referred to the discussion on Article 1 of the then draft of the Constitution in the Constituent Assembly in 1948 and stated that there was strong support for renaming the country as Bharat or Hindustan at that time. According to the petition, though it may be symbolic to change the English name, but replacing it with the word Bharat will justify the freedom struggle of our ancestors. The petition said that it’s time for the country to know its original and authentic name Bharat.