Outsiders named our country India, we call it Bharat: Kerala governor Arif Khan bats for name change

Kozhikode: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan defended the NCERT panel's recommendation of replacing 'India' with 'Bharat' in school textbooks. 

Speaking to the media on Thursday, Khan stated that the recommendation is in accordance with the constitution and that the name 'Bharat' was given by ourselves and 'India' was given by “others”. He added that, as per his understanding, the word 'Bharat' will be used more for official purposes. 

"Actually our Constitution uses both the words. India that is Bharat shall be a union of states… Nobody has proposed to make any amendment in the Constitution," he said. 

An NCERT panel, headed by historian CI Issac, recommended replacing 'India with Bharat' in school textbooks. The recommendations were made by the seven-member Committee for Social Sciences which is among the committees constituted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training to prepare position papers on various subjects.

NCERT Chairman Dinesh Saklani, however, said no decision has been taken yet on the panel's recommendations.