[Assam] We Need Your Help
mayur bora
mayurbora at yahoo.com
Thu Dec 28 07:33:57 PST 2006
WE STOUTLY OPPOSE THIS MOVE MAINLY FOR THE REASON THAT , HOW SUCH AN IMPORTANT DECISION INVOLVING THE SENTIMENTS OF SO MANY PEOPLE CAN BE TAKEN SO ARBITRARILY AND WITHOUT AN IOTA OF DISCUSSION OR DEBATE.
MAYUR BORA
RANJITA BORA
CHANDIGARH
INDIA
Nayanjyoti Medhi <nayanjyoti.medhi at gmail.com> wrote:
On 12/27/06, Chan Mahanta <cmahanta at charter.net> 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>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
******************************************************************************
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: Nayanjyoti Medhi
Name of Spouse (optional)
City : Guwahati
Country : India
E-mail address : nayanjyoti.medhi at gmail.com
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 Assembly's 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 State's 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
Government's 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
15. Nayanjyoti Medhi, Guwahati, Assam, India
Copy:
Honorable Prime Minister of India
Honorable Home Minister of India
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Mayur Bora
Chandigarh
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