[Assam] Petition to the Supreme Court of India to invalidate the December 15 Resolution of the State Legislature

Wed Dec 27 20:08:12 PST 2006

I have silently disagreed with Mr. Barthakur on many issues he raised before. I do agree with him on the subject he is raising here. 
  I also agree to be a signatory to the petition if the suggested changes are made. I haven't figured out why we have to depend on what an unknown dutchman said, when we have the Ahom Buranjis in Assam that should be able to tell us what the region was called before the British came.
  If the legislators are skeptical that "x" in "Oxom" or "Axom" will not be pronounced correctly by the non-Assamese and as a result they cannot sponsor one of those names, let them stay with "Assam" that is accepted by everyone (other than the Congress MLA's).
  Dilip Deka
  Houston TX USA

Himendra Thakur <hthakur at comcast.net> wrote:
      v\:* {   BEHAVIOR: url(#default#VML)  }  o\:* {   BEHAVIOR: url(#default#VML)  }  w\:* {   BEHAVIOR: url(#default#VML)  }  shape {   BEHAVIOR: url(#default#VML)  }        st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }                To
  Mr. Rajen Barua
  Katy, Texas, USA

  Subject: Petition to the Supreme Court of India to invalidate the December 15 Resolution of the State Legislature.

  Dear Barua,

  I join you in registering my strong opposition to the entirely unwarranted move on the part of the State Legislature to change the name of our State from Assam to Asom. By recording my name, email address, etc. [in red font] in the table provided by you below, I give my consent to put my name as a signatory to the petition, on the condition that the paragraph number 4, and all its related references, will be deleted from the "Petition". . 

  The paragraph 4 in the "Petition" refers to some Dutch mercenary sailors as follows:
    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. 
  Inclusion of this paragraph in the Petition may mislead a reader as an endorsement of the congratulations (dated on 29-08-1663) by Joan Maertsuyker to Mirjumala on his successful attack on Assam. I request the signatories of the Petition to distance themselves from such congratulations for successful attack on Assam.

  The paragraph 4 also asserts that The Dutchman was forced to fight alongside the army of Mirjumla in 1662 without establishing any basis of such a statement. According to a translation of the diary of a Dutchman  by Benudhar Sarma into Assamese as Bangamua nou-yatrar Kahini that I read many years ago, these fortune-hunting sailors of the seventeenth century were low-life mercenaries who enjoyed butchering the unarmed Assamese victims during Mirjumalas occupation. A number of name-mistakes by these sailors are mentioned in that book. These sailors cannot be cited as an authority of correct names or maps prevalent at that time.  

  I agree with you that 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.  

  In fact, this should be the main tenet of the Petition which will make the Petition brief and powerful. The Petition will be weakened if we try to promote the name Assam because a bunch of seventeenth century buccaneers said so. 

  Similarly, the topic of Roman transliteration of the Assamese name Oxom (the x here being an internationally recognized representation of the guttural kh sound ) may enfeeble the Petition due to a lack of reference of the said "international recognition."  

  We are grateful to you for taking the initiative and I personally appreciate you for all your efforts. I am writing the above points to strengthen the Petition.  Well Wishers and Friends of Assam should also appeal to the Vice Chancellors of the Universities in Assam to encourage scholars to study the subject and come up with a thorough and informed public discussion and debate.  National organizations like Assam Sahitya Sabha and other cultural bodies also should participate. The Opposition parties demand for a debate must be agreed to. The State Legislature does not have any mandate to change the name of our State from Assam to Asom without consent of all concerned. 

  Please consider if the Well Wishers and Friends of Assam should file a petition to the Supreme Court of India to invalidate the December 15 Resolution of the State Legislature.

  With the best wishes,
  Himendra Barthakur

    ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Barua25 
  To: Himendra Thakur 
  Sent: Tuesday, December 26, 2006 9:56 PM
  Subject: FRIENDS OF ASSAM

  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.

  Please note that this petition is sent under no organizational banner but only under individual initiativwe only. 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. 

  Yours etc

  Rajen Barua
  Katy, Texas

  - 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:
     Himendra Barthakur
      Name of Spouse (optional)

      City
     Salem, Massachusetts
      Country
     USA
      E-mail address
     hthakur at comcast.net
      Please reply to this e-mail with copy to barua25 at hotmail.com  to Rajen
  Barua, Katy, Texas who 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 Assams 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 states 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: barua25 at hotmail.com) or Wahid Saleh of   The Netherlands (e-mail: 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

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