India's president referred to herself as the President of Bharat instead of the President of India this week, sparking a row over the country's name.
印度总统在本周称自己为“巴拉特总统”,而不是“印度总统”,从而引发了一场关于这个国家名称的争论。
Droupadi Murmu put the title on official dinner invitations for a reception she was hosting for leaders at the G20 summit in New Delhi.
在于新德里举行的G20峰会上,德劳帕迪·穆尔穆为出席峰会的各国领导人举办了一场宴会,并将“巴拉特总统”这一头衔写在了宴会邀请函上。
India is also called Bharat, or Bharata, or Hindustan.
印度也被称为巴拉特,或巴拉塔,或印度斯坦。
Those are its pre-colonial names in Indian languages, used interchangeably by ordinary Indians and officials.
这些都是它在殖民前的印第安语名称,普通印度人和官员可以互换使用。
But high offices usually stick to titles such as President or Prime Minister of India while communicating in English. So what changed?
但高级官员在用英语交流时通常坚持使用“印度总统”或“印度总理”等头衔。那么现在这个改变是因为什么呢?
Over the years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP
多年来,印度总理纳伦德拉·莫迪领导的民族主义执政党--印度人民党,
has been changing colonial names, saying it'll help India move past a mentality of slavery.
一直在致力于改变殖民地名称,并表示这将帮助印度摆脱所谓的“奴隶制心态”。
Supporters of the invitation name-change say British colonial rulers coined the name India while the real name was always Bharat.
改名的支持者表示,英国殖民统治者创造了“印度”这个名字,而真正的名字一直是“巴拉特”。
To Hindu groups linked to BJP, the G20 summit was an opportunity to shed India's colonial baggage.
对于与印度人民党有联系的印度教团体来说,G20峰会是一个印度摆脱殖民包袱的机会。
Others oppose the name-change. Mamata Banerjee, a top opposition leader, said everyone in India says "Bharat;" it's nothing new.
也有一些人反对改名。反对派最高领导人玛玛塔·班纳吉表示,印度每个人都说“巴拉特”,这不是什么新鲜事。
"So what happened suddenly," she asked, "that the government had to change the name of the country?"
“那么突然发生了什么事,让政府不得不更改国名?”她发问道。
The answer -- she and others say -- is that it aimed to eclipse a major opposition alliance formed two months ago to fight next year's elections.
据她和其他人透露,答案就是为了降低两个月前成立的一个主要反对派联盟的重要性,该联盟的目的是为明年的选举而战。
It's called INDIA, an acronym. That's to challenge the nationalist BJP on its own turf, analysts say.
这个联盟的名字就叫INDIA--这是一个首字母缩略词。分析人士称,这就是在挑战高举民族主义大旗的印度人民党。