[Assam] SAVE THE NAME OF ASSAM

[Chan Mahanta]

Wow! I never thought I will live to see this from the AT :-)!

Great job TEAM!

Yes, we should take this little success in humility, and keep that pressure up.

c












At 10:55 PM -0600 1/5/07, Rajen & Ajanta Barua wrote:
>Editorial in Assam Tribune:
>We are really glad to see that Assam Tribune has 
>now published this Edotorial. Although it is due 
>to the influence of our petition, we don't have 
>to take any credit for that. We sincerely wish 
>that for the sake of Assam, the movement for the 
>name of Assam will grow, and finally GOA will 
>rescind the resolution and form an Advisory 
>Committee to publicly discuss and debate the 
>issue.
>
>Two related news items:
>One: there had been a  dharna in Dibrugarh to retain the name of Assam.
>Two: Today, there is a conference in Guwahati titled 'Save the Name of Assam'.
>
>We request everybody to personal Letters to the 
>Editor speacially to the Assam Tribune 
>supporting our position to retain the name of 
>Assam.
>Thanks
>Rajen Barua
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>Past WeekPast MonthPast 3 MonthsPast 6 
>MonthsPast YearSince 2004 Guwahati, Saturday, 
>January 06, 2007
>
>EDITORIAL
>
>MESSAGE FOR TODAY
>A name is a kind of face whereby one is known.
>— FULLER
>
>Assam or Asom?
>That the Assembly decision changing the name of 
>the State from Assam to Asom for all purposes 
>has not gone down well with the public should be 
>evident from the mounting opposition to the 
>change. And the opposition is definitely not 
>without merits. The State Government showed an 
>undue haste in effecting the change, and more 
>importantly, did not bother to invite public 
>opinion on such an important issue. No doubt, 
>names of many places have undergone changes in 
>recent times, especially those involving 
>‘distorted’ names given by the British, mostly 
>out of ignorance. It is perfectly natural that 
>the people of a particular geographical entity 
>would always prefer to be identified with the 
>original name of their land due to factors 
>related to sentiment, culture and heritage. The 
>sanctity associated with the original name of a 
>place is undeniable, as names are invariably 
>linked to our past civilizations and sometimes 
>they even transcend history and date back to the 
>days of myths and legends. In a way, names 
>constitute our very identity. The present 
>controversy over ‘Assam’, however, is different 
>for several reasons. First, Assam was not a 
>British-given name as sought to be established 
>by the Government. The origin of the word 
>‘Assam’ can be traced back to the 14th and 15th 
>centuries. Historical documents of the Mughal 
>period and Dutch chronicles of pre-British era 
>corroborate this.
>
>History apart, we will only put ourselves in a 
>disadvantageous position by effecting a change 
>in the name Assam. The name Asom is unlikely to 
>serve any purpose outside the State, where it 
>has been known as Assam for centuries. Before 
>effecting such a hasty change, we would do well 
>to have a closer look at some important aspects 
>that need careful consideration. The word Assam 
>has gained global acceptance, given that 
>whatever little international recognition the 
>State has, it centres around the word Assam — as 
>in the case of Assam tea, Assam oil, Assam 
>rhino, etc. Under the circumstances, the word 
>Assam has become the brand name for various 
>products of the State, and any change in the 
>word Assam could have an adverse effect on our 
>own interests. Moreover, the word Asom will 
>always be there for local uses. Prudence, 
>therefore, dictates that we should be extremely 
>cautious before going ahead with a change in the 
>name Assam. If at all there is any need for a 
>change to Asom or Axom, a public debate must 
>precede it. It is for us to ensure that in 
>correcting a supposed historical wrong, we 
>should not end up on the losing side. Imposing 
>Asom in place of Assam might, instead of 
>yielding the desired results, prove to be a step 
>backwards and do more harm than good to our 
>image or identity. In the past two hundred years 
>or so, the word Assam gained some global 
>currency and it may take a long time for the 
>word Asom to achieve the same. In such a 
>situation, the interests of the State and the 
>people are bound to suffer. Another difficulty 
>with changing the name of Assam to Asom is that 
>many of the ethnic communities living in the 
>State have already vented their strong 
>opposition to ‘Asom.’ The controversy over the 
>word ‘Assamese’ is still fresh, and changing the 
>name of Assam to Asom is likely to be viewed by 
>the ethnic groups as an attempt to impose the 
>will of the majority Assamese because of the 
>obvious link between the words Asom and Asomiya 
>(Assamese). This will only create chaos, 
>confusion, mistrust and division, which we can 
>ill-afford. It is imperative that the overall 
>interest of the State should get precedence over 
>a change in name. Or else, the exercise is 
>unlikely to serve the cause of the State and the 
>people.
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