[Assam] We Need Your Help

Tue Dec 26 07:00:28 PST 2006

Dear Friends and Wellwishers of Assam:

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
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- The Map of Bengale published in 1662.

<http://www.indiawijzer.nl/links/assam/map_of_bengale.jpg>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>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>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>http://www.indiawijzer.nl/links/assam/assam_or_asom.htm

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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 
<mailto:barua25 at hotmail.com> barua25 at hotmail.com 
. 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: 
<mailto:barua25 at hotmail.com>barua25 at hotmail.com) 
or Wahid Saleh of   The Netherlands (e-mail: 
<mailto:w.saleh at indiawijzer.nl> 
w.saleh at indiawijzer.nl)   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