[Assam] Chalo Delhi

[Ram Sarangapani]

Whats the world coming to. Here is a news item from the TOI along some more
name changes. Looks like these politicians and others have little else to
do.

>From the TOI:

BHOPAL: After Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram and Bengaluru,
the Jabalpur Municipal Corporation has passed a resolution to rename the
city to Jabalipuram.

The BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh government is also mulling renaming Bhopal to
Bhojpal and Indore to Indur.
The resolution was passed in the Jabalpur Municipal Corporation meeting on
Saturday, both by BJP and Congress members. Corporators said the city was
being renamed after a sage in the 'Ramayana'. The resolution has been sent
to the state government.
According to some BJP members, every part of the country should be renamed
after carrying out historical analysis and research.

BJP leader Anil Dave told TOI, "Post Independence, we removed British
statues from the country. So why can't we remove the British names of our
cities?"

"It was a demand by the people of Jabalpur to name it after 'rishi' Jabali
who had his meditation camp here," Jabalpur mayor Sushila Singh said. "Let
us connect our city with the history and culture of our country. Jabalpur on
the banks of river Narmada is a sacred place of Hindu sages."
Congress corporator Jagat Bahadur Singh said, "Sadhus gathered in my ward in
Narsingh and proposed that the city be renamed after sage Jabali. This was
Congress agenda, not the BJP's."
Renaming Bhopal to Bhojpal (the city of king Bhoj) after Bhoj Deva — the
Paramara king who ruled the region from 1010 AD to 1055 AD and was a
soldier, builder, scholar and patron of learning — was BJP's agenda.
Bhoj Deva's position in history matched Vikramaditya Chandragupta II who
ruled from Ujjaini (now Ujjain).
The first attempt to connect Bhopal to Raja Bhoj was made in 2002 when the
name of the city's airport was changed to Raja Bhoj International Airport.

--Ram
On 12/17/06, Dilip/Dil Deka <dilipdeka at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Here we go again. Not being able to solve it locally, Assam has to appeal
> to Delhi to intervene.
> It is intriguing that we do not know who is instigating this change. The
> chief minister doesn't have the passion for the change. A large number of
> community organizations don't want it. Then who does?
>
> I am not commenting on the name itself but on the process. The lack of
> will to handle local problems locally is a symptom of a deeper complex.
> Dilip Deka
>
> [image: The Assam Tribune online]
> *Guwahati, Sunday, December 17, 2006*
> ------------------------------
> *'Asom' faces strong opposition
> *By A Staff Reporter
>  GUWAHATI, Dec 16 – Though the State Assembly passed a resolution
> yesterday on voice vote to replace 'Assam' with 'Asom' as per the February
> 27, 2006 decision of the State Cabinet, there prevails a strong opposition
> to the decision. Opposition members like Leader of the Opposition Brindaban
> Goswami, AGP's Anup Phukan and CPI's Drupad Bargohain were on their feet
> yesterday demanding discussion on the resolution moved by Environment and
> Forests Minister Rockybul Hussain on behalf of the State Government. But the
> Speaker silenced them saying that the stage to initiate discussion on the
> move was over.
>
> After the session was over, Anup Phukan told newsmen that even Chief
> Minister Gogoi was pronouncing the name of the State as 'Assam'. The Tai
> Ahom organizations are opposed to the idea of replacing 'Assam' with 'Asom'.
> The Government should have gone for a detailed discussion on the issue,
> Phukan said.
>
> Leader of the Opposition Brindaban Goswami said while speaking to this
> newspaper today, that the Opposition members tried yesterday to initiate a
> discussion on the issue. But they were denied any scope to that effect.
>
> Elaborating, Goswami said, with several organizations and scholars
> opposing the move to replace 'Assam' with 'Asom', a debate on the issue was
> on. The Government also constituted an expert committee to examine the
> issue. It was not clear as to whether the Government moved the resolution as
> per the recommendation of the expert committee or following its discussion
> with the organizations of the ethnic groups and the scholars, Goswami said.
>
> Meanwhile, the Tai Ahom National Council, the apex body of the Tai Ahom
> organizations, is preparing to move the court challenging the resolution.
> The Council has also decided to convene a meeting of the Tai Ahom
> organizations, the organizations of the ethnic groups like the
> Koch-Rajbongshis, the Morans and Motoks, the Deuris, the Sonowal Kacharis
> and the Chutiyas and the like-minded people who have been opposing the move
> to effect a change in the spelling. The meeting is planned in the city in
> the next week, said working president of the Council Dr Prabin Konwar here
> today.
>
> The Council, which has 12 Tai Ahom organizations as its affiliates,
> submitted a memorandum to the State Government drawing its attention to the
> historical documents, which suggest the existence of the name 'Assam' from
> time immemorial, Dr Konwar said.
>
> The Council also contended the argument that Bombay became Mumbai, Madras
> became Chennai, Calcutta became Kolkata, Gauhati became Guwahati and
> Sibsagar became Sivasagar recently and this should also apply to 'Assam' and
> it should be replaced with 'Asom', saying that all those changes were
> effected only to undo the wrong committed by the British colonial rulers.
>
> But in the case of 'Assam', the council argued, long before the advent of
> the British colonial rulers to this part of the country, Sihabuddin Talis,
> who accompanied Mirjumla, described the State as 'Assam'. Even Srimanta
> Sankaradeva described the State as Assam in the 14 th century AD, it argued
> in its memorandum to the State Government submitted after the February 27
> decision of the State Cabinet.
>
> Dr Konwar said that despite large-scale opposition to the Cabinet
> decision, the Government led by Tarun Gogoi stuck to the decision
> mysteriously failing to honour the sentiments of the indigenous people.
>
> The Council has also decided to send memorandums to the President, Prime
> Minister and the Ministry's concerned and all the MPs from the NE region to
> veto the State Assembly resolution, Dr Konwar said.
>
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>
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