In the last issue, under Political SketchBook, Alpesh pleads in a letter to Modi for a Constitutional amendment to have the name of India changed to Bharat. It was also proposed by him in an earlier column.
There is no need for it. The Article 1 in the Constitution states that India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States. It is up to the individual and especially the citizenry of the country to use the correct name Bharat when they refer to the country. Unfortunately, the politicians and the media never bothered to respect what is written in the Constitution. Let us remember the Constitution and resolve to recognize that we are Bharati and belong to Bharat.
Alpesh also pleads for Bharat to become as a kind of homeland for Bharati living all over the world. The Indian Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed on Tuesday, 8th January 2019 in Lok Sabha on the similar lines but limited to the neighboring Muslim majority countries. Unfortunately, it is stalled because of opposition from some quarters and hence never made to Rajya Sabha. Let us hope that it will be made to cover all countries of the world and with the new mandate for Modi it becomes a law.
Sanatan culture (Dharm) was the main culture from Indonesia (in the east) to Iran (in the west) and from Japan (in the north) to Sri Lanka (in the south). It is a culture which has developed from first humans on the land of Bharat. It is the only culture whose adherent do not have to be embarrassed about their belief and action of their ancestors unlike for others. It is also the only Dharm which accepts others as equal (Sarva Dharma Sambhav).
Narsibhai Patel
New Malden
