Daily Translation #8
“巴拉特”还是“印度”？印度教民族主义者修改印度国名引发争议
G20峰会即将在印度首都新德里召开。印度总理纳伦德拉·莫迪在峰会晚宴请柬上将“印度”称为“巴拉特”，此举引发了印度国内的争议。“巴拉特”一词在包括印地语在内的许多印度语言当中都可以作为“印度”的名字，无论是国家层面上，还是民族文化层面上。有批评人士称，在印度这辉煌的一年中，更换国名是民族主义的表现。
印度现在是全球人口第一大国和发展速度最快的主要经济体。除了主持在今年9月9日至10日召开的的G20峰会，印度最近也完成了历史性的月球着陆。
在上文提到的晚宴请柬中，印度总统德拉帕迪·慕尔穆被称为“巴拉特总统”。在请柬被报道的两天前，莫汉·巴格瓦特在一次演讲中称印度应该改名为巴拉特。莫汉·巴格瓦特是印度教民族主义组织国民阵线的负责人，也是目前执政的印度人民党的思想导师。
“曾经，我们用印度称呼我们的国家是为了让讲英语的人能够理解。但现在我们必须要摒弃这个名字。无论何时，无论何地，巴拉特这个国家将会被永远地称为巴拉特。” 巴格瓦特说。
一些印度人民党的领袖赞成这一题案。但是BBC报道称，尚未证实印度政府方面考虑正式更改国名。
“可以看到莫迪和印度人民党试图将现代的印度和其殖民时期的历史分割开来。同样我们也注意到了一种对街道重命名的趋势，那些街道原来的名字多跟殖民时期有关。显然，这个例子显示出印度人民党想要用更加合适的专有词来表现印度。”华盛顿威尔逊中心南亚研究所主任迈克尔·库格尔曼说。
两个月前，反对党联盟在2024春季印度大选前自称为“INDIA”。因此更改国名为巴拉特的行为可能有部分是受其影响。当代印度历史学家莱茵德•考尔说。
考尔讲道“可能执政党是想找个不同的名字来进行反击。但有趣的是，印度已经有了一个双重名称，这是在宪法中明文规定的。”
印度宪法第一条这样讲到“印度，也就是巴拉特，为联邦制。”
印度（India）这个名字实际上是梵语单词的英语化，代表着印度河（sindhu）,其在1858年至1947年英国殖民印度时期被引入到英语。巴拉特（Bharat）也有其梵语起源，可以在古印度教典籍《往世书》（Puranas）中找到。书中描述道，人类居住在一片大陆上，这片大陆上有一个地区被称作Bharatavarsa。（译者注：也就是梵语中的भारतवर्ष，音译为bhāratavarṣa，对应中文就是印度）
这个国家另一个比较流行的名字是印度斯坦（Hindustan），在波斯语中代表着“印度河流域（land of the Indus）”。这个称呼通常指莫卧儿王朝时期的印度，并且现在经常被一些印度教民族主义者使用。但是这一称呼并没有在印度的宪法中被正式承认为国家的法定名称。
在晚宴请柬的图片在X——也就是以前的推特——上迅速流传开后，印度民众在社交媒体上对于应当使用那个国名展开了激烈讨论。
“印度人民党对于本国多元统一的基本原则厌恶到了极点。他们希望消除掉这个国家的其他称呼，即印度斯坦和印度，只保留巴拉特一个名称。这一做法显示了他们的小气和偏狭。” 查谟和克什米尔人民民主党主席梅赫布巴·穆夫提在X上写道。
然而，有的人则称赞这一改动是反对帝国主义，彰显真正印度历史的伟大举措。
“我一直坚信，国名应该为我们带来自豪感。我们是Bhartiyas（梵语：भारतीयस，中文：印度人），印度（India）是英国人给我们起的。我们国家早就该正式更名为原来的‘巴拉特（Bharat）’。” 前印度板球运动员维伦德·塞瓦格在一篇帖子中写道。
以前就有人向印度最高法院提出诉讼，要求将国名改成巴拉特。但到目前为止，法官们拒绝介入这一争议。
重点词汇：
enshrine in：将某人某物视为重要的事物；铭记；载入
go viral：指信息在社交媒体上迅速而频繁地传播
aversion to：对…..感到厌恶
instill：慢慢灌输
Original Article:
‘Bharat’ or ‘India’? The Controversy Over Some Hindu Nationalists' Push to Rename India
The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has referred to India as “Bharat” in invites for a dinner party at the upcoming G-20 Summit in New Delhi, a move that has sparked controversy. The word is the name for India in many Indian languages, including Hindi, and critics say its use is the latest sign of a nationalist push amid a banner year for the country.
India is now the world’s most populous nation and is the fastest growing major economy. Beyond hosting the annual G-20 Summit this year, which runs from Sept. 9 to 10, the country also recently completed a historic moon landing.
The invites referred to the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, as “President of Bharat.” News of the invites comes two days after Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of the Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, an ideological mentor of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, said in a speech that the country should use the word Bharat instead of India.
"At times we use India so those who speak English will understand. But we must stop using this. The name of the country Bharat will remain Bharat wherever you go in the world," Bhagwat said.
Several BJP leaders have cheered that approach. But there has been no confirmation that the government is mulling a formal name change, the BBC reported.
"We have seen that Modi and the BJP want to distance modern India from the colonial past. And so we've seen this trend of renaming streets that have names that refer to the colonial past. Clearly this is an example of wanting to use the term that the BJP thinks is the proper, more appropriate term to use for India," says Michael Kugelman, the director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.
Two months ago, the alliance of opposition parties named themselves “INDIA” ahead of the Spring 2024 Indian general election, so the focus on rebranding to the name Bharat may also be partly motivated by that, says Ravinder Kaur, a historian of contemporary India.
“Partly, the ruling party is trying to counter by finding a different name. But the interesting thing is that India already has a double name, which is enshrined in the constitution,” Kaur says.
Article 1 of the Indian constitution begins with the words, “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.”
The name India is an Anglicization of the Sanskrit word for the Indus river, sindhu, and was introduced during the Crown's rule over India from 1858 to 1947. The name Bharat also has Sanskrit origins and is found in the Puranas, ancient Hindu religious texts. The texts describe a large land mass on which humans live on, and one region of this landmass is referred to as Bharatavarsa.
Another popular name for the country is Hindustan, which means “land of the Indus” in Persian. It became a popular way to refer to the country during the Mughal era and is frequently invoked by Hindu nationalists. However, it is not officially recognized as the legal name for India in the constitution.
On social media, the debate over which name to use has been at times heated, after pictures of the dinner party invitation went viral on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“BJPs aversion to India’s foundational principle of unity in diversity has touched a new low. By reducing India’s many names from Hindustan & India to now only Bharat shows its pettiness & intolerance,” Mehbooba Mufti, President of the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party, wrote on X.
Others, however, praised the potential change as anti-imperialist and authentic to India’s history.
“I have always believed a name should be one which instills pride in us. We are Bhartiyas ,India is a name given by the British & it has been long overdue to get our original name ‘Bharat’ back officially,” wrote former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag in a post.
Previously, court cases have been filed at India’s Supreme Court to change the country’s name to Bharat. But judges have so far declined to wade into the controversy.
原网址：
https://time.com/6310821/bjp-rename-india-bharat/
