Indian state renames dragon fruit because it sounds ‘too Chinese’

‘Innovative response to Chinese land encroachment’ Politicians and Twitter users take a dig at Gujarat CM’s decision

File image: India has recently started cultivating the dragon fruit, which has origins in Americas, and not China (Getty Images)

An Indian state’s decision to change the name of dragon fruit has drawn scathing political reactions as well as a flood of memes and jokes on social media.

Gujarat’s Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said on Tuesday the fruit would now be called “Kamalam”, a Sanskrit word for the lotus flower, which happens to be the symbol of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well as the national flower of the country. The Gujarat BJP party office is also named Kamalam.

Explaining his decision Mr Rupani told the media:  "The name dragon fruit is not proper, and due to its name one thinks of China.” He added: "Farmers say it looks like lotus and that is the reason we have named it ''Kamalam."

India-China relations have deteriorated sharply in the last few months after a standoff in the Himalayan region in which 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives.

There have been calls to boycott Chinese products in India and the Modi government banned several Chinese apps accusing them of stealing data of its users.

Mr Rupani, however, also said his decision is not political in nature, but that didn’t stop politicians from opposition parties and other people from making fun of the move which many called pointless.

"Is the Gujarat CM competing with or mocking the UP CM?” Congress MP Shashi Tharoor wrote on Twitter pointing at BJP’s fondness of changing names of places. “Suggest it would be best if the BJP government constitutes a 'National Renaming Council' to keep these Chief Ministers occupied, considering that's the only thing they're good at, and save their states from misgovernance.”

A spokesperson of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which is part of Maharashtra's ruling coalition, said the day was not far when the BJP would call the country Kamalastan.

Writer Samit Basu tweeted: “Military historians worldwide should take note of India's genuinely innovative response to Chinese land encroachment: officially renaming a Thai fruit. Don't mess with us, is the strong message. We can rename any number of things.”

Chef Kunal Kapoor wrote: “Gujarat Govt. renames #dragonfruit as 'Kamalam'. Looks like our priority for the nation is set! We were not satisfied renaming the cities, we need to rename vegetables & fruits too. By the way, COVID is on, the economy took a hit, we are in the middle of a pandemic. #JustSaying

Some users also came up with Game of Thrones memes.

Dragon fruit, a fruit of a species of wild cactus indigenous to South and Central America, is also pitaya or pitahaya and its cultivation in India only started in recent years. The dragon in the name originated because of the outer layers of the fruit that resembles the scales of a dragon.