Thiruvananthapuram, (Samajweekly) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday strongly condemned the Centre’s reported move to replace the name India, describing it as part of the nefarious attempts to sabotage the country’s heterogeneity.
He urged the people to unite and resist such brazen political measures.
“The move behind the exclusion of the word ‘India’ is against the Constitution, and disregards the country itself. Article 1 of the Constitution itself refers to our nation as ‘India that is Bharat’. Similarly, the preface of the Constitution begins with the words ‘We the people of India’. However, what the Centre is attempting now is the removal of the word ‘India’ through a constitutional amendment,” he said.
Vijayan said that mentioning ‘ the President of Bharat’ instead of ‘the President of India’ in the invitations extended to the heads of the states participating in the G20 Summit is a prelude to this.
“Why this contempt and fear of the word ‘India’? There is a deliberate attempt to erase even the spirit nurtured in children through the Pledge: ‘India is my country; all Indians are my brothers and sisters,” he said.
“Political decisions should never be contrary to the foundational ideals of our nation. This dubious attempt is undemocratic and unconstitutional,” said Vijayan and urged the Central government to withdraw from such attempts to defy the Constitution and disregard the nation.
