Virender Sehwag is the latest personality to jump on the bandwagon calling for renaming India as Bharat and urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Jay Shah to use Bharat on jerseys of the Indian team in the ICC World Cup.
The call for renaming India gained momentum after President Droupadi Murmu used "President of Bharat" in the official invite sent to G20 delegates.
Sehwag took to the X platform, saying, "I have always believed a name should be one that instills pride in us. We are Bhartiyas. India is a name given by the British, and it has been long overdue to get our original name, 'Bharat', back officially. I urge the @BCCI and @Jay Shah to ensure that this World Cup our players have Bharat on our chest.”
Sehwag also mentioned earlier instances of other national teams used their indigenous names in sports tournaments. "In the 1996 World Cup, the Netherlands came to play in the World Cup in Bharat as Holland. In 2003, when we met them, they were in the Netherlands and continue to be so. Burma has changed the name given by the British back to Myanmar. And many others have gone back to their original names," he said.
Earlier, acting legend Amitabh Bachchan too took to social media, saying, “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” hours after social media was abuzz with the debate on renaming India.
The Congress on Tuesday attacked the BJP government over the "President of Bharat" row, saying it is "scared" of the INDIA bloc and is trying to distract people from issues such as price rise and "rising joblessness".
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said there is no constitutional barrier in renaming India as Bharat. However, he said he hopes the government will not be foolish to do away with the name, India, which has incalculable brand value.
-- with inputs from PTI
