|
Letter to the Editor:
The Assam Tribune:
Dear Sir,
I am writing this letter in
reference to a letter published in your paper by the President of Asom Sahitya
Sabha suggesting to change to name of Assam to Asom. I completely oppose the
suggestion. I am not opposed
to change of place names. But let us keep things in perspective. The
only reason for name change is to make sure that others 'pronounce'
the name of a place the way the natives pronounce. That is the only
reason.
Therefore the world has gone
through a cycle of name change of places specially where the strong headed
British named the places as their wish.
So we reasonably changed
Peking to
Beijing
Bombay to
Mumbai
Dacca to
Dhaka
Calcutta to
Kolkata
Madras to
Chennai
Ceylon to
Srilanka
Gauhati to
Guwahati
Cittagong to
Sttagram
etc.
In the same line we should do some
more changes to the following names, if we want to.
Sapekhati to Xapekhati or
Chapekhati
Sibsagar to Xiboxagor or
Chiboxagor
Sankardev to
Xongkordeb
Sharma to Xorma or
Chorma
Saikia to Xoikia or
Choikia
Parishad to
Porixod
because that is how we prononce
these words.
Or we don't have to
change.
etc.
Now when it comes to place
names like Assam, Bengal, Singapore or India we should
think very deeply and see what we are trying to do.
The words Assam,
Bengal, Singapore and India etc have their own historical
background of development.
In fact the word Oxom
and Assam was developed, we may say, in parallel. Although the
word Oxom was used since 13th century, during the British days
the words Oxom and Axam both were used interchangeably. At the
same time word Assam was developed separately by the British
from the word Axam.
Now during these almost two
hundred years, the word Assam become like a
international 'brand name' with Assam Tea Company, Assam
Company, Assam Oil Company, ART Company, etc so much so that today Assam has its
own recognition simply from its name Assam.
Now if we want to change the
name Assam, first, we must realize that we are going to loose that
international recognition, an issue which we Assamese so much complain
of.
Second even inspite of that
we want to change the names the way we pounce then let us change to the right
spelling
Let us Change
Assam to
Oxom.
India to
Bharat
Bengal to
Bangla
Singapore
Singhapur
etc
Before Asom Sahitya
Sabha suggests changing the name of Assam to Asom, let
us suggest that let Asom Sahitya Sabha change its name to
Oxom Xahiytya Xobha.
Otherwise it should not open
its mouth in areas where definitely showing its incompetence of
leadership.
Assam has too many problem,
nut let us not try to create new ones.
Otherwise we will have to
start s slogan
Tej dim kintu Assam
nidiw.
Rajen Barua, Houston,
USA
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2006 12:37
PM
Subject: Re: [Assam] Plea to change name
of State to ‘Asom’-AT
Barua,
Maybe, they don't like the 'X' factor. It looks now 'Sibsagar' has become 'Sivasagar'.
I personally (and usually) do not see the need for name
changes specially for cities and states.
One wonders if things were not working right when the
old names existed? For example, what has benefitted Kolkata or Chennai or
Mumbai or others after the name transformation? How has Guwahati become
different after the name change?
The bigger question is why has it taken so long for the
Assamese(or others for that matter) to realize that all this time they
were calling their state/city by a 'wrong name'. Why did this all too
important matter come up after all these years?
--Ram
On 2/9/06, Rajen
Barua <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
There is another falacy in the
request.
The word
Assam in an Englished name of the Assamese word
Oxom
Like the word
India is of
Bharat.
Before making such nonsense
request Asom Sahitya Sabha should ponder why we are not try to change the
name of India to Bharat.
Asom Sahitya Sabha should
concentrate on better things than trying to get into something outside its
scope.
This is called Nologa jengot
loga
I say Hobo Diok.
Rajen Barua
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2006
10:37 AM
Subject: [Assam] Plea to change name
of State to 'Asom'-AT
This is interesting. Why 'Asom' though?
Why not Oxom or Axom?
In the do such changes make a difference? And there
would be expenses too. I would venture that once major problems in Assam
(Asom) have been dealt with, one can play around with the
name.
___________________
Plea to change name of State to
'Asom'
By A Staff
Reporter
GUWAHATI, Feb 8 – Learned circles have called for
restoration of the original name of the State, 'Asom,' in place of the
existing 'Assam,' as they feel the former alone can truly represent the
unique culture, heritage and history of the State. The name of a place is
not just something that has a simple, insignificant association with it.
More often than not, it reflects the history, culture and heritage of the
land and the people inhabiting it. The name is the key that holds the
identity of the place and unveils its past, often transcending history and
going back to the days of myths and legends. And Asom is no exception to
this rule. That the roots of the name Asom lie in ethnicity is all too
evident.
Eminent litterateur and former Sahitya Sabha president
Chandra Prasad Saikia, has been among the ardent votaries of Asom. In the
editorial of the literary magazine Gariyoshi's February issue, Saikia says
that continuing with the name Assam is against the ethos and spirit of
Assamese nationalism. "It is perfectly desirable that the name by which a
particular people identifies their State should also be the name of that
State for all purposes," he says. "The name Asom will also be able to
convey best the wishes, aspirations and sentiments of the people at the
national as well as international level," he adds.
Saikia also
opposes the spelling 'Asam' for the original name, as it would be more or
less similar to 'Assam.'
The British had effected changes in the
original names of many places of the country. This was primarily to suit
their convenience and without giving any regard to local history and
culture or to local sentiment. However, after India's independence, many
States restored the original names – Tamil Nadu, Chennai, Mumbai, Uttar
Pradesh, Kolkata, etc., being a few of these. In Assam too, the British
'Gauhati' was changed to Guwahati, 'Nowgong' to Nagaon and very recently
'Sibsagar' to Sivasagar.
Saikia is also optimistic that the
different ethnic communities of the State will not oppose reinstating the
name Asom. "The word Assam in no way helps the growth of their language,
literature and culture. Although the word Assamese originates from Asom,
Asom – which stands for 'the unmatched' — has an exclusive meaning," he
says.
Urging the people to lend their voices to the cause, Saikia
says that as the first step, the State Government should begin with using
the word Asom in the place of Assam in all official exercises. Next, it
must mount pressure on the Centre to circulate Asom at the all-India
level. Moreover, it is time the various organizations related to the
State's cultural and educational spheres put up a united and forceful
stand on the issue.
It may be mentioned that the State Government
had issued a circular for using the word Asom for all official purposes
but its implementation has not at all
materialized.
_______________________________________________
assam mailing
list
[email protected]
http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
|
