India
The Union Home Ministry has written a letter to the ministry of external affairs (MEA) in this regard, stating that renaming West Bengal to Bangla sounds similar to Bangladesh. This might lead to confusion in the international arena over Bangla and Bangladesh, it said.
Kolkata: The West Bengal Assembly had passed a resolution to rename the state as 'Bangla' in July. But the Centre has raised apprehensions about West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s long-standing wish.
The Union home ministry has written a letter to the ministry of external affairs (MEA) in this regard, stating that renaming West Bengal to Bangla sounds similar to Bangladesh. This might lead to confusion in the international arena over Bangla and Bangladesh, it said. MEA has been asked to respond in this regard.
The Indian Express quoted an official from Home Ministry stating, “Once we receive a response from MEA, a draft note for the Cabinet will be prepared to bring an amendment. The Constitution amendment bill will then be introduced in Parliament and will need to be approved there, before it is sent to the President."
Mamata Banerjee had stated that ‘Bangla’ was chosen as 'it is the identity of Bengal'. It will also help to climb the alphabetical sequence of state names when compared to the name West Bengal.
The proposal to rename West Bengal to Paschim Bango was rejected by the Centre in 2011 and in 2016, the Centre said no to the Mamata Banerjee government’s proposals to change the name of West Bengal to— Bangla (in Bengali), Bengal (in English) and Bangal (in Hindi).
Read Exclusive COVID-19 Coronavirus News updates, at MyNation.