'Ek Whimsical Aadmi’: On India-Bharat Debate, Anurag Kashyap Says People Won't Get Ration, Won't Be Able To Travel

Weighing in on the Bharat-India debate, bollywood director Anurag Kashyap has said that renaming the country would be an impractical exercise and have negative consequences, especially for the most vulnerable members of society.

He emphasised that this would result in a significant waste of tax money and create unnecessary difficulties due to the need to reissue official documents.

However, it should be noted that the government has clarified that the speculation over the name change of the country are just "rumours".

Earlier, Union Minister Anurag Thakur told The Indian Express that these were just rumours but this “clearly shows their mindset" towards the name ‘Bharat’ and how they are against ‘Bharat’. “I think these are just rumours which are taking place. All I want to say is that anyone who objects to the word Bharat clearly shows the mindset," he was quoted as saying.

mid the speculation that the Central government is planning to bring a proposal to rename the country from India to ‘Bharat’, Union Minister Anurag Thakur has clarified that these are just “rumours". A 

During an interview with Jist, Anurag Kashyap, joined by his Haddi co-star Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and director Akshat Ajay Sharma, was asked about the India-Bharat debate.

Responding to the question, Kashyap said in Hindi, “I don’t understand this. When was India not Bharat? Just writing ‘Bharat’ instead of ‘India’ on a piece of paper… And imagine doing this on all government documents, each and every one will need to get their passports renewed, Aadhar cards and ration cards will have to be renewed. They’ll spend four years worth of tax money on this alone", The Indian Express reported.

“Everything will need to be changed. Is it a humanly possible task to do it without wasting all that money? Ek whimsical aadmi ek whim pe aise kare, uske consequences sochta hai kabhi woh (A whimsical man can just do this on a whim, without thinking about the consequences)," he said, IE reported.

Anurag highlighted the need to reprint banknotes, educational degrees, and vaccine certificates, which would cause inconvenience to the general population. He criticised the lack of consideration for the consequences of such a decision.

Speculation about an official name change from India to Bharat arose ahead of the recent G20 summit in New Delhi.

The dinner invites of President Droupadi Murmu referred to her as the 'President of Bharat' instead of 'President of India'.

Similarly, the card in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the summit read 'Bharat'.

The Constitution interchangeably uses both names in Article 1, stating that "India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States."