[Assam] Telegraph Coverage of the Petition

[umesh sharma]

thats good coverage!!
   
  ***The suggestion that Assam was a foreign word coined by the British was countered by the group. They furnished documentary evidence to prove that the name was in use long before the British annexation of the state.

"Even in the Ahom Buronjis, we find that the Mughals used the name Ashyam for the state. The name appears in various historical documents from the Mughal period and in Dutch chronicles dating to the pre-British period. Persian publications like the Akbarnama (1542-1605), Padshah-Namah (1627-1647), Alamgir-Namah (1657-1667) and Tarikh-i-Mulk-i-Asham mention Asahmais. On the other hand, we do not find the name Asom anywhere in documents from the pre-British days," the appeal said.

   
  Umesh

Chan Mahanta <cmahanta at charter.net> wrote:
        http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070104/asp/northeast/story_7215910.asp
  

  

  NRIs move Gogoi on 'Asom'
A STAFF REPORTER

Guwahati, Jan. 3: The debate triggered by an Assembly resolution to change the name of the state to Asom has forced a group of Assamese people from across the globe to rally together to "save the name of Assam."

In a petition to chief minister Tarun Gogoi yesterday, the group appealed against a change in nomenclature, supporting its contention with historical documents.

The group includes the president of Asam Sahitya Sabha, four past presidents of the literary body and several non-resident Assamese people from the country and abroad.

Expressing "strong opposition" to the proposal, the petitioners said the resolution was "unwarranted and undemocratic" as it was adopted without any debate in spite of requests from the Opposition.

"The state's name is not something that should be changed 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's demand for a debate was summarily cut off in a highly undemocratic fashion," the document, signed by 139 petitioners, said.

"The legislature did not give a credible set of reasons for the change from the internationally-recognised name Assam to Asom. In these days of globalisation, to dilute Assam's international name recognition is entirely counter-productive," the group alleged.

The suggestion that Assam was a foreign word coined by the British was countered by the group. They furnished documentary evidence to prove that the name was in use long before the British annexation of the state.

"Even in the Ahom Buronjis, we find that the Mughals used the name Ashyam for the state. The name appears in various historical documents from the Mughal period and in Dutch chronicles dating to the pre-British period. Persian publications like the Akbarnama (1542-1605), Padshah-Namah (1627-1647), Alamgir-Namah (1657-1667) and Tarikh-i-Mulk-i-Asham mention Asahmais. On the other hand, we do not find the name Asom anywhere in documents from the pre-British days," the appeal said.

Quoting several historians, the group stressed on a strong indigenous connection for the name Assam, claiming that it has been in use for the last 800 years.

"The word Assam offers a wider international recognition for the state. It is easier to identify the state from such associations as Assam tea, Assam oil or even Assam silk," said one of the signatories of the petition, Rajen Barua, who now lives in Texas.

The petitioners appealed to Gogoi to revoke the resolution passed in the Assembly. If that was not possible, the group said an advisory committee, comprising eminent citizens, academics, historians, linguists and other members of the Assamese diaspora should be formed to decide whether it was the public's prerogative to alter the name of the state.
_______________________________________________
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 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://assamnet.org/pipermail/assam_assamnet.org/attachments/20070105/1b685ec5/attachment.html