[Assam] We Need Your Help

Fri Dec 29 09:30:03 PST 2006

Umesh da
what you say may be true. in their own context, but what about the questions
i raised. they remain still unanswered. i would be grateful if you would
care to answer the questions raised on the comment you had written. please
take care not to compare assam with any other.... its unique and its
problems are also.

Regards

Nayan

On 12/29/06, umesh sharma <jaipurschool at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Nayanjyoti-da,
>
> Everyone makes decisions based on what one knows -- which might still be
> wrong --based on what one knows.
>
> These politicians know little so make narrowly focused decisions - lacking
> long term , broad perspectives.
>
> Just like elected Panchayats in villages who condemn inter-caste romance
> couples to death -- or like US fears against democracy in Saudi Arabia
> leading to rule by Osama Bin Laden -- democracy works as best as the people
> who vote.
>
> In the short term educating the elected officials to make informed
> decisions is a must. World Bank and other bodies are also engaged in
> strengthening democratci systems -by training the various people
> (politicians, election workers etc) .
>
> Umesh
>
>
>
>
> *Nayanjyoti Medhi <nayanjyoti.medhi at gmail.com>* wrote:
>
>  Dear Umesh Da,
>
> Sorry to interfere but i would like to (subject to correction) draw
> attention to something you had written in the last message to Chandan Da as
> quoted below. Couldn't help myself in asking a question.
>
> "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."
>
> Have you seen the effects of the authority that that has been awarded to
> the elected members of the state? And if you have? then do you think that
> all of them are equally capable of taking responsibility / carrying out that
> authority aka "trust" vested in them by the people of the state. Do you not
> see the fiasco the state is in now both economically, socially and
> politically. Do you not think that the elected members of the state, instead
> of changing the name of the state should have used the time for social and
> economic upliftment of the people of the state. And have you taken note of
> the decisions that the elected members of the state has taken on behalf of
> the people.
>
> Regards
>
> Nayan
>
>
>
>
> On 12/29/06, umesh sharma <jaipurschool at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> > My mistake :
> > ***
> > *Saint Petersburg* listen<http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Ru-Sankt_Peterburg_Leningrad_Petrograd_Piter.ogg>
> >  ( help <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Media_help>· info<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ru-Sankt_Peterburg_Leningrad_Petrograd_Piter.ogg>
> > ) ( Russian <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_language>:
> > Санкт-Петербу́рг, *Sankt-Peterburg*) It is informally known as *Piter* (
> > *Питер*) and was formerly known as *Petrograd* (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924)
> > and *Leningrad* (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991).
> > (It is a city located in northwestern Russia
> > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwestern_Federal_District>on the delta<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_delta>of the Neva
> > River <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neva_River> at the east end of the Gulf
> > of Finland <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Finland> on the Baltic
> > Sea <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_Sea>. )
> >
> > *umesh sharma <jaipurschool at yahoo.com>* wrote:
> >
> > 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 beecame 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 thenn again St Petersburg (in Russia).
> >
> > Has Assam Rifles become Asom Rifles?
> >
> > Umesh
> >
> > *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
> >
> >
> >
> > - 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
> > 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:
> > 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
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > assam mailing list
> > assam at assamnet.org
> > 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
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > 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
> > ------------------------------
> > The all-new Yahoo! Mail<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mail/uk/taglines/default/nowyoucan/free_from_isp/*http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=40565/*http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html>goes wherever you go - free your email address from your Internet provider.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > assam mailing list
> > assam at assamnet.org
> > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> Nayanjyoti Medhi
> Advocate
> Gauhati High Court
>
> Chamber:
> Satya Bora Lane, Dighalipukhuri East
> Guwahati-781001, Assam
>
> Residence:
> 8, Chandan Nagar Bye Lane-2
> Basistha Road, Guwahati-28
> Assam
>
> Phone:
> +91 361 2416960
> +91 94350 43007
> +91 99547 13443
>
> Email:
> nayanjyoti.medhi at gmail.com
> nayan_5 at hotmail.com _______________________________________________
> assam mailing list
> assam at assamnet.org
> 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
>

-- 
Nayanjyoti Medhi
Advocate
Gauhati High Court

Chamber:
Satya Bora Lane, Dighalipukhuri East
Guwahati-781001, Assam

Residence:
8, Chandan Nagar Bye Lane-2
Basistha Road, Guwahati-28
Assam

Phone:
+91 361 2416960
+91 94350 43007
+91 99547 13443

Email:
nayanjyoti.medhi at gmail.com
nayan_5 at hotmail.com
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