C-da, I do believe that each one of has every right to support a petition about anything -esp. if it relates to the name of where we hail from - and also that perhaps it could become a rallying cry to fuel community efforts in improvement in other areas. However, I also believe that the elected members of the state have been awarded the authority to make decisions on behalf of people living in the state. I do not know whether the sought public opinion or not before deciding to change the name of the state to Asom (from Assam) --but seeing the trend across the world - next door Burma becoming Myaanmar, Bangalore became Bangalooroo , Madagascar became Malagasi (?) , Great Britain became United Kingdom, Rajputana became Rajasthan, Vatican becoming Holy See etc ----- it seems unlikely that the decision would be reversed anytime soon . Ofcourse, St. Petersburg became Stalingrad and then again St Petersburg (in Russia). Has Assam Rifles become Asom Rifles? Umesh
Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hello Netters: We have received forty-three (43) signatories so far, from around the world. But surprisingly, very few Assam Netters have responded. Please stand up and be counted. And if you do not agree, go ahead and express yourselves. Tell us why you don't agree. As a part of the Assam intelligentsia, we owe it to ourselves to speak up and participate in the debate. For if not us, WHO? Best. cm PETITION TO SAVE THE NAME OF ASSAM On 15th December 2006, the State Assembly of Assam adopted a resolution by voice vote to write the name of the State of Assam as 'Asom'. No argument or reasoning was given for the name change, nor any debate was allowed in spite of requests from the opposition. We are starting a general campaign to oppose the government of Assam's resolution to change the name of the state from Assam to Asom. We, a number of friends and well wishers of Assam living in and outside the state are shocked to see the above news report, and hereby register our strong opposition to this entirely unwarranted move on the part of the State Legislature. For this we are circulating the attached petition all over the world to collect signatures from those who support our move. We would like you to support our effort to retain the present name Assam. You may sign the petition, simply by furnishing the information mentioned at the end of this mail. It would be of immense help to us if you would be kind enough to forward this e-mail to your friends who might be willing to support this cause. You are welcome to give your valuable suggestions if any, regarding the petition or any other issues. The letter will also be addressed separately to Mr. Brindaban Goswami, the Opposition Leader, Assam Assembly, as well as copied to the Prime Minister's and Home Minister's office. The petition will be mailed on 1st January 2007 with the first set of Signatures. So please send your replies to us at least by 30th December 2006. Sincerely yours, Chandan Mahanta St. Louis, USA ******************************************************************************* - The Map of Bengale published in 1662. http://www.indiawijzer.nl/links/assam/map_of_bengale.jpg - Letter of Joan Maetsuyker, Governor General of Dutch Batavia, 29-08-1663 http://indiawijzer.nl/links/assam/letter_to_mirzumala_1.jpg - Treaty of Yandaboo, 24-02-1826 http://projectsouthasia.sdstate.edu/Docs/history/primarydocs/Treaties/Burma/002.htm - Website link with more articles on this issue: http://www.indiawijzer.nl/links/assam/assam_or_asom.htm ****************************************************************************** I oppose the resolution to change the name of the state from Assam to Asom, and hereby give my consent to put my name as a signatory to the petition. Full name: Name of Spouse (optional) City Country E-mail address Please reply to this e-mail with a copy to [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Rajen Barua, Katy, Texas, USA, is coordinating the compilation of the names of the signatories and mailing the petition to the Chief Minister of Assam. ******************************************************************************* To Mr. Tarun Gogoi Honorable Chief Minister of Assam, Sachibalaya, Dispur, Assam 781006 Dated Houston 1st January, 2007 Sub: State Assemblys Resolution to Change the name of Assam to Asom. Dear Sir: On 15th December, 2006, the State Assembly of Assam adopted a resolution by voice vote to write the name of the State of Assam as 'Asom'. No argument or reasoning was given for the name change, nor any debate was allowed in spite of requests from the opposition. We are a number of friends and well wishers of Assam living in and outside the state, who are shocked to see the above news report. We hereby register our strong opposition to this entirely unwarranted move on the part of the State Legislature for the following reasons: 1. The States name is not something for changing in as casual a fashion as it has been done, without a thorough and informed public discussion and debate. It was never a mandate of the people. Even the Opposition parties demand for a debate was summarily cut off in a highly undemocratic fashion. 2. The Legislature did not give a credible set of reasons for the change from the internationally well-recognized name 'Assam' to'Asom'. In these days of 'globalization', to dilute and muddy Assam's international name recognition is entirely counterproductive. 3. There is clear historical evidence that the name of 'Assam' is not a coined word by the British but which had been there long before the British signed the Treaty of Yandaboo on 24th February 1826 and used the word Assam in the treaty. Even from the Ahom Buronjis, we find that the Moghols used the name Ashyam for the state. The same is also evident from the various historical documents from the Moghol period and Dutch chronicles of pre-British period. In Persian publications of Moghol period, like Akbarnama (1542-1605), Padshah-Namah (1627-1647), Alamgir-Namah (1657-1667) and Tarikh-I Mulk-I Áshám , the name Asham is mentioned 4. We attach herewith a copy of a map of the Kingdom of Bengale (Kingdom of Bengal) which was published around 1662. The map was drawn by a Dutchman, John van Leenen, who was in 'Bengale' in 1661. The document is presently in the Maritime Museum, Rotterdam. As can be seen, the name Assam appears on the map. A letter sent by Joan Maertsuyker, Governor-General of Dutch Batavia who congratulated Mirjumala on 29-08-1663 and addressed Mirjumala as 'Grooten Mogol in Assam'. The diary of a Dutchman published in 1675, mentions the name of Assam and the people of Assam as Assamer. The Dutchman was forced to fight alongside the army of Mirjumla in 1662. 5. According to many historians, the phonetic name Assam was derived from the Sanskrit name Shyam (as in Shyam-dex, the name of Thailand), the name of the Shan people who invaded and conquered Kamrup in the 13th century. According to historian Baden Powel, on the other hand, the word Assam might have been derived from even older original Boro word Ha-som, meaning low land. Thus we find that the phonetic name of Assam had been with us for at least the last 800 years since the coming of the Tai-Ahoms to our land; even if we ignore the possibility of an earlier Boro origin. 6. At present, non-Assamese speaking people the world over pronounce the name of our state as 'Asam' (where both the initial and the middle 'a' pronounced as 'a' in the word 'father', and 's' as in the word 'sun'). Changing the name to 'Asom' will merely encourage the non-Assamese speakers to pronounce the name of our state as something like 'Osom' or even 'Esom' ( with the 's' being pronounced as in 'sun') as a simple survey will clearly illustrate and thereby defeating any intent of asserting our unique language heritage embedded in the name 'Oxom' (the 'x' here being an internationally recognized representation of the guttural 'kh' sound ). 7. Today our state has two names: 'Assam' internationally and 'Oxom' in Assamese. This is similar to 'India' internationally and 'Bharat' in Indian languages; or 'West Bengal' internationally and 'Poschim Bongo' in Bengali. Such duality does not rob or dilute the states' unique cultural, language or ethnic heritage. 8. Today Assam faces numerous problems which are crying out for the Governments attention and action. But changing the state's ancient name of Assam to a misguided attempt at Roman transliteration of the Assamese name 'Oxom' to 'Asom', with all the associated costs: monetary, cultural and historical, is certainly not one of them. 9. The 'xo' or 'kho' guttural sound is unique to the Assamese language, among the myriad of the sub-continental languages. We should protect and promote this heritage, instead of diluting it to destruction by equating it to the 'so' sound of other languages, as this imposition of 'Asom' by an act of legislative fiat will surely do. Based on the above considerations, we urge you to exercise your leadership in rescinding this un-deliberated, unwise and destructive of an-unique-Assamese-language-heritage act of the Assam legislature forthwith. We will be pleased to furnish additional historical documentation and intellectual arguments to prove our points, should that be necessary. You may kindly contact Rajen Barua of USA (e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) or Wahid Saleh of The Netherlands (e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) for further discussions and clarifications in this regard. Your Sincerely Well Wishers and Friends of Assam 1. Rajen & Ajanta Barua, Katy, Texas, USA 2. Chandan & Bonti Mahanta, St Louis, MO, USA 3. Wahid Saleh, Berkel en Rodenrijs, The Netherlands. 4. Ramgopal Sarangapani, Houston, Texas, USA 5. Partha Gogoi, Washington, DC, USA 6. Ankur Bora, Austin, Texas, USA 7. Rini Kakoty, London, UK 8. Shantikam & Sangeeta Hazarika, Guwahati, Assam 9. Monoj Das, New Delhi, India 10. Chanakya Bora, Noida, India 11. Jayanta & Alakananda Barman, Guwahati, Assam 12. Bidyananda & Kavita Barkakoty, Guwahati, Assam 13. Bikram M Baruah, Abu Dhabi, UAE 14. Shankar Borua, Huntsville, Texas, USA Copy: Honorable Prime Minister of India Honorable Home Minister of India _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org Umesh Sharma 5121 Lackawanna ST College Park, (Washington D.C. Metro Region) MD 20740 1-202-215-4328 [Cell Phone] Ed.M. - International Education Policy Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Class of 2005 weblog: http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/ website: www.gse.harvard.edu/iep Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
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