India vs Bharat name-change row: How Bollywood celebs, sports stars reacted

A G20 invite sent out by the Indian government has sparked speculation about the country’s name being changed to Bharat, triggering a massive debate.

The controversy began after India was called “Republic of Bharat” in invites sent out to delegates for the upcoming G20 Summit in the Indian capital of New Delhi. The signature also referred to the Indian president as “President of Bharat” instead of “President of India”.

The matter quickly set off debates and a political row in India. Several celebrities, including legendary Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan and Kangana Ranaut, and cricketer Virender Sehwag and Sunil Gavaskar, among others, have reacted to the news.

Bollywood

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on September 5, megastar Amitabh Bachchan wrote “Bharat mata ki jai” in Hindi in an apparent reaction to the Bharat Vs India debate.

Commenting on the controversy, actor Jackie Shroff told reporters that he doesn’t find it problematic to use Bharat instead of India.

“There's nothing wrong if Bharat is being called Bharat. My name is Jackie, but some call me Jockey, and many call me Jaki. People often distort my name. But I haven't changed. How will we change? The name might change, not us,” Shroff was heard saying in a video shared by news agency ANI.

Actress Kangana Ranaut, too, came out in support of India’s name being changed to Bharat. “…the name Bharat is so meaningful, what is the meaning of India? I know they called Red Indians that because in olden English Indian simply meant a slave, they named us Indians because that was our new identity given to us by the British,” the actress posted on X.

Sports fraternity

Legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar said that the name, Bharat, has a nice ring to it. Speaking to India Today, Gavaskar added that the change “needs to come in everything.”

“That is the original name, Bharat. So it has a nice ring to it. But it has to be done at the official level, the government level and the BCCI level for the team to be called Bharat cricket team. But changes have occurred. Burma is now called Myanmar. So the original name can come in and I do not see much of a problem. But, basically, it needs to come in everything," the 74-year-old was quoted as saying.

Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag proposed to refer to the Indian cricket team as “Team Bharat” and not “Team India”.

“I have always believed a name should be one which instills pride in us. We are Bhartiyas, India is a name given by the British & it has been long overdue to get our original name ‘Bharat’ back officially. I urge BCCI secretary Jay Shah to ensure that this World Cup our players have Bharat on our chest,” Sehwag said.

In a follow-up tweet, Sehwag highlighted the examples of some countries that changed their names. “In the 1996 World Cup, Netherlands came to play in the World Cup in Bharat as Holland. In 2003 when we met them, they were the Netherlands and continue to be so,” the cricketer said.

“Burma have changed the name given by the British back to Myanmar. And many others have gone back to their original name,” he added.

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