Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has strongly criticised the Centre’s alleged decision to change the name of India.
The Kerala chief minister said it was a continuation of repeated attempts (by the Centre) to destroy the country’s pluralism. Pinarayi Vijayan also demanded that all the people should be ready to protest against this narrow politics.
The Kerala CM said the movement was against the Constitution and that such a change contradicted the fundamental spirit of the document.
“The Constitution in its first article describes our country as ‘India, that is Bharat’. Similarly, the Preamble of the Constitution begins by saying ‘We, the people of India’. The central government is moving to amend the Constitution to remove the word India from it,” said Kerala Chief Minister.
The Opposition claimed that invites to the G20 Summit dinner sent by the Rashtrapati Bhawan had ‘President of Bharat’ inscribed on them, instead of ‘President of India’. Speculation followed after the alleged move that the BJP-led government is aiming to drop India and rename her Bharat.
“Why is there so much fear of the word India? Children from an early age are taught that ‘India is my country.’ This move might be construed as a deliberate attempt to erase the notion that ‘All Indians are my brothers and sisters’ from the minds of the younger generation,” Pinarayi Vijayan added his point.
CM Pinarayi Vijayan further said that no political move should be a move against the nation.
He deemed it undemocratic and unconstitutional and called on the central government to withdraw its efforts to alter the country’s name.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi advised the ministers against commenting on the India vs Bharat dispute, adding that only the authorised person should speak on the matter.