‘Rename’ Sarkar: Is it the Government’s job to rename fruits, roads, places and railway stations?

We should possibly be grateful to the Gujarat chief minister for promoting ‘Dragon Fruit’, which most Indians had neither heard of nor tasted till the honourable chief minister decided this week to rename it. Thanks to him and the media, we now know that the fruit is native to central America, is grown the most in Vietnam and that it was introduced to India in the late nineties. Since then enterprising horticulturists in several states have apparently taken to growing the fruit, which does not require much water, we are told, and can be grown on a variety of soil. One can hardly fault the chief minister for promoting another exotic fruit, sold in India at a couple of hundred rupees a kilogram, for the table of the 15% of Indians who can afford to have fruits on the table. One must also be thankful that the Gujarat chief minister did not bother to name the fruit after the Prime Minister and christen it ‘Modi’, although jackets and apples and mangoes etc. have been named after him in the past few years.

Vijay Rupani, the chief minister, merely did the next best thing by naming the fruit ‘Kamalam’. He justified it by saying that the name ‘Dragon Fruit’ was not appropriate in our holy land and, therefore, a suitable Sanskrit name was found. It is easier to pronounce for sure and it is merely a coincidence that the lotus, which is what Kamalam stands for, happens to be the election symbol of the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is also entirely possible that a fertile Indian mind suggested the name with the US Vice-President Kamala Devi Harris in mind. All is fair in diplomacy and who can blame the leaders for conjuring up another ground to serenade super powers? One does not know if the fruit has traces of bitterness but the solemnity with which the Gujarat chief minister has christened the fruit, does leave a bitter taste. Naming fruits should be of no concern to political leaders. The names actually evolve on the streets, with people finding an appropriate local word for what is unfamiliar. It is not the job of the government. And critics can hardly be blamed for asking if this is what the government has been reduced to and if their task is now to rename streets, fruits, existing institutions and universities.

On this Republic Day and on the eve of another budget session of the Indian Parliament, which meets a week later on the first of February, it is worth asking ourselves how to reclaim the Republic. This is the time to remind politicians, particularly politicians in power, that they rule on behalf of the people and need to be accountable to them. The state instead has become increasingly coercive, unreasonable and brutal. This is a country which has turned into a country more for politicians and less for the people; a country where politicians call the shots from school admission to hospital beds. This is not the Republic of our dreams or for the future.

It is amusing to find political leaders say how hard they work and what they have ‘achieved’. They need to be reminded that they are not doing the people any favour, that spending public money the way they feel like is not what they are expected to do. The budget session will show yet again how seriously the rulers take the Constitution and democracy. Let us ensure that they do not forget it.