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‘No objection to ‘Bharat’, but...’: Mamata Banerjee on India name row
Mamata Banerjee said people call the nation by various other names such as Hindustan and Bharatvarsh
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that she has no objection if the country is called Bharat but insisted that the name India should also stay.
“Those who speak Bengali and Hindi call the nation Bharat. But the name India is mentioned in the first line of the Preamble to the Constitution that Babasahed Ambedkar drafted. But they (Centre) introduced a new name without amending the Constitution. This is unconstitutional,” the chief minister told the media a day before leaving on a 11-day tour of Spain and Dubai to seek investments to the state.
“The word Bharat is also mentioned in the Constitution. We have no objection to it but the word India should not be deleted. Why do we need to make the change? Our passports mention the words Republic of India. People call the nation by various other names such as Hindustan and Bharatvarsh,” said Banerjee.
Targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Trinamool Congress chairperson said: “I think they changed the name because they were thinking of the (opposition’s) INDIA alliance. If that is the case then I can also say that lotus, which is the election symbol of BJP, was used at the G20 summit. It was everywhere. But lotus is also our national symbol (flower). One should think about such issues. I am not saying these to start a quarrel. These are things to be discussed amicably.”
Bengal BJP chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said: “Bharat is an everlasting soul. Having a debate on it is an insult to the fundamental spirit of the Constitution.”
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The chief minister also took a swipe at the Centre for the fresh summons sent by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to her nephew and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday. She also protested the arrest of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday.
Abhishek Banerjee said in a social media post on Sunday evening that ED has summoned him on September 13, the day the coordination committee of the INDIA group of opposition parties, of which he is a member, is scheduled to hold its first meeting.
The chief minister said: “This is political vendetta. In a democracy, some political parties may have certain adjustments (understanding) with each other. Some may not. But democracy also defines some limits. If a party behaves like this today because it is in power, then another party will do the same if it comes to power tomorrow. This should not happen. The CPI(M) was in power (in Bengal) for 34 years. I did not touch any of its (former) ministers. This is courtesy in democracy.”
“They are disturbing Abhishek every day. He has to go to lower courts, the high court and the Supreme Court to seek justice. He is being harassed unnecessarily. There is no evidence (against him). They cannot tolerate the young generation. They don’t want them to be successful in politics. But the young generation will not accept this. They will fight back,” she added.
On Chandrabau Naidu’s arrest, she said, “As political parties, we have an appeal. I did not like the manner in which Chandrababu Naidu was arrested. If something is wrong, you should hold talks, inspect and investigate. You have the right to do that. But don’t do anything in a vindictive manner. This may boomerang in the coming days.”
Although he is a suspect in the coal smuggling operation and the bribe-for-job scam in the West Bengal education department, Abhishek Banerjee did not mention in his X handle the case Sunday’s summon letter was linked to.
A lawyer representing the ED in court said the summon is most likely linked to the bribe-for-job scam because the Calcutta high court recently asked ED why Abhishek Banerjee was not questioned.
“The federal probe agencies are independent bodies and the cases are being monitored by courts. Our party plays no role here,” Samik Bhattacharya said.
