Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar expressed his perspective on the proposal to change the country's name from India to Bharat, emphasizing the importance of addressing the citizens' real-life needs.

Responding to reporters' questions about this name change proposal, Shivakumar stated, "The real change can be seen when the people of the country experience improvements in their lives, such as access to food, employment, and housing. Has the people's income doubled in the past nine years? Have they received the promised 15 lakhs in their bank accounts? No. The BJP used to challenge us, saying they wouldn't leave a single grain of rice unaccounted for. But have they fulfilled even one of their promises?" he questioned.

Shivakumar also pointed out that many affluent and large-scale businesspeople are leaving the country. He highlighted that numerous Indian billionaires have acquired foreign citizenships by obtaining passports from other nations, which has resulted in capital outflows from India. He emphasized that merely changing the country's name would not bring any substantial benefits and that the focus should be on transforming the nation's culture.

Furthermore, Shivakumar called for the government to introduce new legislation aimed at improving the well-being of the people. He mentioned that initiatives like the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), and the Food Security Acts were implemented during the UPA government's tenure, and he questioned whether the BJP had similar intentions.

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United Nations/Geneva (PTI): India has slammed Pakistan after it raked the issue of Jammu and Kashmir in the UN Human Rights Council, saying the "failed state” that survives on “international handouts” “dutifully” spreads “falsehoods handed down by its military-terrorist complex.”

India exercised its Right of Reply at the high-level segment of the 58th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday to lodge a strong retort to Pakistan after it raised, as it habitually does, the issue of Jammu and Kashmir at the multilateral global organisation.

“India is exercising its Right of Reply in response to the baseless and malicious references made by Pakistan. It is regrettable, yet unsurprising, to see Pakistan’s so-called leaders and delegates continuing to dutifully spread falsehoods handed down by its military-terrorist complex,” Counsellor at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva Kshitij Tyagi said.

Delivering India’s powerful response, Tyagi said it is unfortunate that this Council’s time continues to be “wasted by a failed state, which thrives on instability and survives on international handouts. Its rhetoric reeks of hypocrisy; its actions, of inhumanity; and its governance, of incompetence.”

Asserting that the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh were, are and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India, Tyagi said the unprecedented political, social and economic progress in Jammu and Kashmir in the past few years speaks for itself.

“These successes are a testament to the people’s trust in the government’s commitment to bring normalcy to a region scarred by decades of Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism,” he said.

He emphasised that as a country where human rights abuses, persecution of minorities and systematic erosion of democratic values constitute state policies, and which brazenly harbours UN-sanctioned terrorists, Pakistan is in no position to lecture anyone.

“Instead of its unhealthy obsession with India, Pakistan should focus on providing actual governance and justice to its own people,” he said.

Tyagi further said that Pakistan is even making a mockery of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) by “abusing it as its mouthpiece, which is fooling nobody. We do not wish to dignify such propaganda, but are constrained to make a few simple points for the record.”

Underlining that India remains focused on democracy, progress, and ensuring dignity for all its people, Tyagi said these are values that Pakistan would do well to learn from.