Why Assam to be Asom?

#55
I thought people actually say `Amdavad` and in contrast `Karnavati` would be an unwieldly mouthful.

jang, you mean, upon ``reversion?``

muslims upon conversion insist on giving an arabic name. so why the rant?

The only place I imagine the Modi gang is desperate to rename is Ahmedabad- we can`t have a nice Hindu city named after these friggin Mohammedans understand?

and why not -- the friggin Hindus should name that `nice Hindu city` -- Modi Kebab House.....:)

it`s not surprising that the author, being a member of Darool whatsisname and editor of the impressive sounding Green Crescent magazine, would try and obfuscate the issue of renaming by dragging in the good ole BJP, secular India`s universal scapegoat.

Just FYI, when Bombay changed to Mumbai, the Congress was in power both at state and centre. When Bangalore, where sanity had prevailed oh so long, succumbed and became Bengaluru (or Bengalooru, it isn`t yet clear which) it was the good old Janata Dal (Secular) in power; though Congress CM Dharam Singh, who`d just been rudely shunted out by the Gowda clan, had no qualms about doing it himself (if only he`d stayed in power). Tamilnadu has never had a BJP government, nor has West Bengal, so blaming the charming-sounding Chennai and the monstrous Kolkatta on the Beej is to give them too much credit.

The only place I imagine the Modi gang is desperate to rename is Ahmedabad- we can`t have a nice Hindu city named after these friggin Mohammedans understand?- but so far everyone who`s heard their alternative- Karnawati- goes green (no pun intended) so that`s out for now. Delhi more properly should be Dehli, but that`s so similar that no political party worth its salt would ever back such a foolhardy move.

On a serious note, it`s a myth that name changes are perpetrated in the name of religion alone, as the author would have us believe. It`s a common ploy of politicians across the party spectrum to prove their son-of-the-soil credentials. It bodes badly for India, which as it develops, is becoming increasingly cosmopolitan and tolerant on one hand, and parochial & narrow-minded on the other. name changes are foolish, they`re a waste of everybody`s time and money and for the most part, ineffective since nobody bothers using the new name anyway.

I was wrong about NWFP -- three names are being proposed for the tongue twister -- none of them pretty: Pakhtoonkhwa/Pakhtoonistan/Afghania....Afghania?

How about the name that we all knew since old days `Sarhad` of Zia Sarhadi -- not Zia Pakhtoonistani -- Zia Pakhtoonkwhaee -- or Zia Afghaniaee....

#52 point is that was a colonial construct which was abolished.

Re: # 51

possibly, not sure. It was long time back. There used to be only one state now there are seven.

#50

Are you sure? Were Meghalaya and Mizoram also not part of NEFA?

Re: # 49

India too had NEFA( North East Frontier Area) which is now Arunachal Pradesh, though China refuses to acknowledge it as part of India.

If therfe is one name between India and Pakistan -- that defintely needs chaning is NWFP -- what the heck is that archiac colonial jumble of consonants doing in this day and age.

The Pakistanis are such colonialophiles -- they won`t part with that goddam tongue twister even a century after independence......:)

re: Zeemax # 45

Just got the joke (what a tubelight!). Luckily, most kannadigas will miss it entirely :)

#33 bagalore was part of adilshahi (bijapur) in medieval times. it was jagir of raja shahaji (sivajis dad).

Re: # 43

Blah... blah...bleat...bleat... you babble a lot old man... if you pakis love your nizams, zamindars and mega agriculturalists and other feudal scum, so be it... But we don`t, and we have abolished all such fiefdoms, a democracy has on place for such feudalism... if that makes us ``socialist``, so be it... Like I said - you got your homeland, we got ours... that`s the reason we gave you your patch... go kill yourself over your nizams and zamindars...

I have no respect for fools - dead or alive... :)...

But my favourite name change is `Bhangi-lauroo`.

Re: # 18

I believe Bombay was called Mambhay by the locals after the city deity Mumbadevi and not Mumbai.

Re: # 42
Now Mr. Mohor you have lost mental stability.
Please note that you can not become Super Rich like HH Nizamshah by working hard. By hardwork you can become middle class not rich. This Rajas, Sultans, amirs became rich by making poor work hard and selling marketing their works products. It is happening all time even in socialism. Without exploitation there is no excess wealth. Poor should not be given too much as surplus makes them demand even more creating propblems opf strikes insubordination or thinking of subversive ideas of socialism and even worse marxist idealogy. You know that yourself you have communists three state govts means you have problems. Now this rich people work also hard but mentally and good managers of poor people. There is not so much land here to give to all poor landless workers on farm. You have communisty way of land things so indian farm is fragmented and reduceing smaller and smaller, ecnomically inviable unit. That is reason Pakistani Zamindars are rich as they do not go on fragmenting lands. That is reason India needs imports to feed poor indian and he is fed cattle feed from usa, russia etc. While pakistani farmers productivity whopping 56% more so he does not cultivate all land still can feed so many people and big exporter of wheat etc and rice. Queen of england only uses pakistani when she makes food for her family. Quality product produced fron clear cold waters and most organic and valuable lands of Punjab and Sindh. Now it is fashion of people like indians who are socialist inside to speak bad against rich people, zamindars and show them bad in your moves which is cancer to all of subcontinent. Most of time rich people are nicer, good looking, they marry also good looking, physically healthy and educated amny times foreign educated. ( Here no body gives damn to IIT and FIT etc they go to colleges of cambridge amnd europe and america etc.
Any I think you should develop humility and appreciation and honor of Kandan people who teach their children to to yes sir, yes madam etc. English gone and all conuntries have gone down and all coorroupt officers. We need good civil servic officer from Britain in India to teach indians good qualities of showing respects to people.
Pakistan also need them and supreme court judges who are impartial and can interpreat law of land without afraid of rulibg army boss.
Any way you can help yourself being respectful of others and specially of dead persons.
Good day.

Re: # 41

How the f*** nizam made his wealth? working in the f***ing fields?.... there have been n number of blood sucking nizams and kings and what not, all made themselves rich on the backs of their subjects, on their blood and sweat...

... once republic of india was established - there was no place for any nizams, kings, maharajas, zamindars or other free riding scum of the earth... the wealth was not his, that belongs to people of india... so does hyederbad, goa, kashmir, or whichever other place you are talking about...Nizma didn`t have a divine right to anything...

QAMA jinnah can go f*** himself - we don`t give a damn... Nizam should have been shot to death for helping that jacka$$ jinnah... like I said - pray to your prophet that we had mercy on him and let him live...

Re: # 35
Nizam ruled that peacful state from 1707 to 1948. India will go for that long is question ? do not tell me I know pakistan lasted for quarter century. He was the richest man of world and had tons of gold, diamonds and what not. He gave lots of money to good causes. Also this family with help of English and marathas finished Tipu Sultan as he was troubling Nizam and raiding Nizam areas. He was generous to new state of Pakistan and QAMA Jinnah had gratitude and respect for him. Unfortunately as soon as Gandhi and QAMA Jinnah died democratic Nehru inveded and arrested HH NIZAM and looted his treasury. Today if I am correct his descendent is very very super rich man with investments in sheeps for wool in Australia. I am sure nehru and patel must have stolen lots of jewels and now belonging to Mrs Soniyaji Gandhiji. All theves. May some good international lowyers need to sue GOI and bring back real legal rulers of hyderbad. All his palaces are used by ordinary office clearks with govt Kachheris. Very sad and unjust.

Re: # 37

Forgive?...(snort)... you think no end of yourselves, don`t you old man?... :).... how you cope with your own delusions is up to you... we don`t give a damn... you got your land and we got ours... end of story...

Re: # 29
Thanks for explaining in details.
ZAB had habit of pleasing others without spending money. He made happy KSA by naming major city after King FaZal and gave stadium name of Leader of Libiya.
When he was slaughtered both nations could have saved him if they would have decided. But Zia was smart he executed fast ( Faster than S.H of Iraq) with no time for intervention by brotherly countries ( ZAB was very respected figure in Arab world)

Re: # 8
Check your geography book. Banladesh is having border with Mynar. Educated indians ?

Re: # 34
We can forgive but can not forget

jang#30:

``all this from those who have rejected everything of their heritage.``

Not true! All heritage is accepted - African homo-erectus, harrappan, Greek, Buddhist, Turkish, Arabic, Persian, British. Just don`t use the `H` word. :)

Re: # 33

Nizam who?...

Re: # 28

naked aggression?... would you have preferred an agression covered with velvet gloves?... :)

Anyway - Junagarh, Goa, State of Bhopal ,Kashmir, ``prosporous and peaceful`` Nizam State - they are all our properties and we took it back... sure, it needed some ``naked aggression`` but so what?... Rome wasn`t built on a song, was it?...

Who the f**** is H H Nizam?... Pray to allah that we had mercy on him and gave him only ``house arrest``, not the islamic treatment - you know, beheading for being such a stupid d!ickhead...

anyway that was decades ago... wipe your tears and move on... pakis and their whining... it never ends... Urghhh... :)

Re: # 27
Was Banglore part of Nizam state ?

Re: # 27
Was Banglore part of Nizam state ?

#30 no bs, please. this is the front page. :-)

#29 all this from those who have rejected everything of their heritage.

#24 kaalchakra: so the lasting solution may lie in disabling people`s strong and separate identifications with divisive aspects of history.

Good point. british raj is much a part of the subcontinent`s heritage as any other time - whether it is mughal, delhi sultanate and co, the various kingdoms and entire civilizations before that. the city of taxila alone has several layers to it - most notably the greco-buddhist (or gandhara) layer and buddhist period before that. these are all part of a common heritage that needs to be preserved.

It is only the petty minded who destroy what came before them - one of the worst damages done being by a single catholic priest who around the 16th century i think burnt all the burnable manuscripts of the mayan period in central america. or his brother priests who used bricks from the aztec city ot tenochtitlan to build churches, and so mexico city now sits on the rubble of tenochtitlan.

In Pakistan, Lyallpur was founded around 1890 after a visit to the site which was basically a wilderness at the time by the local Deputy Commissioner, and thrived on the chenab canal also built during the british period. It was named Lyallpur after the british governor or Panjab. The name became part of the pakistan`s heritage. What was accomplished by changing it to Faisalabad in 1977 (under Bhutto I think, not under zia) I dont know - he was ousted the same year by Zia and hanged a couple of years later. Zia fared no better - his name is mud as far as Pakistan`s history is concerned.

Re: # 5
Donot forget naked aggression and crossing international borders of Junagarh, Goa, East Pakistan, State of Bhopal ,Kashmir one of most prosporous and peaceful Nizam State and putting H H Nizam under house arrest.

all kannadigas i met (outside) call it baaaynglaur

jang, kannadigas have always used the name bangaluru or something else sounding fairly similar (could some kannadiga confirm that, please?).

at least bombay was always called mumbai by locals and poona pune and calcutta kolkata...and i am not talking of old times but by comtemperory locals. e.g., the local radio broadcaster always said ``akashwani, mumbai kendra``. wtf is chennai and bangaluru..and we must change Dehli to Dilli right away. may be south dilli retain Dehli.

tahmed32, those are good examples of places where people have overcome this problem. Many Americans have no problem identifying with their native American roots, and don`t see their identities at odds with the identities of American Indians or of Spaniard Settlers (although it would be an interesting survey to ask native Americans themselves if they would prefer to ``re-establish`` most old names were they to re-gain power). Similarly, UK too seems to have erased the strong mentality of former (Roman) rulers and ruled, with few Briton now identifying themselves and their heritage as such.

We, however, continue to stay close to separate parts of a common heritage,...so the lasting solution may lie in disabling people`s strong and separate identifications with divisive aspects of history.

The changing/keeping of names everywhere boils down to the visceral issues of identity and identification. In India and Pakistan, a very widespread belief is that Muslims and British were the historical ``conquerers,`` and others (Hindus etc) were the historical ``defeated.`` In that framework, formerly ``defeated`` peoples seek to return the places to ``original`` names once they gain the right to rule over themselves.

How can we get rid of this mindset of the former ``rulers`` and the ``ruled?`` It is as heartbreakingly common as it is probably silly.

One solution could be for people to acknowledge the history. That will make everyone more sensitive to the concerns of others, so a solution could be found in which no one group feels particularly slighted.

Possibly, then we will all behave more ``rationally``.

Re: # 20
Thanks for pointing out. May this activity is sign of ever to be developing countries. Also there is obsession about money loosing national air line, Stell making plant , third grade nations with overactive 5th rate leaders. Problem is no body can oppose this game effectively it as if saying let us pay homage to old gone people. Good night good 2007 Feb.

But this is indeed funny :

[Mr. Yechury, on the other hand, added a third and to him a ‘secular’ name. ``If anything, we propose the name be changed to Leningrad. The great Vladimir Ilyich is now no longer respected in his own country Russia. At the same time his idelogical contributions to the cause of the Indian people is immense.`` ]

I suggest Delhi should be renamed Macacabad

What about Lahore?

#19 not all over the world. in the US, e.g., a large number of states simply retain the American Indian names for the tribes that lived there (Massachussets, Michigan, North and South Dakota, and so on). Older cities named by Spaniards (San Franciso, Los Angeles, St Augustine) retain their names. In the UK, ancient towns named by Romans who ruled over england at the time retain their name (Manchester etc. - in fact all the ``Chesters`` in england from from the Roman Castra, which was the name for a Roman military garrison station.

By changing names in attempts to get cheap popularity with someone, the governments in many developing countries have merely taken away the historical continuity and name recognition associated with these countries.

This fad is all over world. We have new name for major city of Punjab which was name of great Englishman who made good contribution now to pay honors to Late King of KSA. I do not know why writer is so much agitated?

Pune, and Mumbai are correct pronunciations of those cities

its time to change allahabad to prayag, ahmedabad to karnavati, and hyderbad to billgatesnagar

By that extension of removing Jehangir and Sher Shah Suris names then no christian or Muslim or Parsi child should be named so but only appropriately named by majoriy shiv sena ,bjp,communists....

Re: # 5
Bhutan is an independent kingdom. It is occupied by the Bhutanese. -)

Interesting article!

Name changes seem to be quite popular these days, and not only in India. There seems to be a conspiracy all over to make life somewhat more difficult for people settled in their ways. Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka have all changed the names of their cities. Burma and Ceylone even changed the names of their countries. China changed the entire spelling system, making it even more difficult for outsiders to pronounce their names.

But I am surprised that you have credited/blamed the BJP for inventing this ``disease``. Poona was changed into Pune long before the BJP was even formed. I think that this is more of a regional than a religious thing; otherwise the first name changes would have been the street names in Delhi - there seems to be a name for every Mughal/Muslim ruler in the city, including the Aurangzeb Road and none of the several BJP administrations in Delhi have tried to change those names. Indeed, two names from the Muslim era have been added to new streets - Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and the Sher Shah Suri Marg.

City names are not just names but brands too and have inherent association of the character of that city. The name Bombay was a brand as was Calcutta, Madras and Bangalore. Mumbai doesn`t quite reflect character of a vibrant cosmopolitan city. It isn’t the name these politicians change, they slowly kill the spirit of the city.

Re: # 5

Actually all of Indian states have fallen to India`s naked aggression. Are you going to do something about it? Please let us know.

Indian government`s neglect of north-east is to a large extent responsible for the present condition. Otherwise Assam is a place where you would find pork-eating Muslims and beef-eating Hindus living together peacefully. :)

A corridor through Bangladesh will definitely help.

So true, nasah ji (despite the great regard I obviously have for Assam/Asom. Which other place could have given the nation a son like Bhupen Hazarika?)

Honestly speaking the things the Ass amese are doing to each other and to the Indians of the neighboring states these days -- the name Assam should be changed to Assiam -- not Awsom.

With Bangladesh surrounded almost 360 degrees with indian territories including Assam the only genuine bengalis left would be former East Pakistanis....Most of Educated Bengalis have become anglicised and move away from bengal hindised and otherwise

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Re: # 5

Sure dude... but before you bankrupt beggar pakis step out to ``help`` others - may be you should free yourselves from oppression by your own army and from NATO bombs... :)

Assam, Sikkim, and Bhutan are occupied territories, by any definition, that fell to the naked Indian aggression. Pakistan should not accept Indian soveriengty on this territory and help local freedom movements to seek independence from oppression.

``Hindu fundamentalism is the biggest threat to the modern India``, says Khashwant Singh in `End of India`... this s the time whn india should learn from the outcome of islamic fundamentalism in pakistn..and pakistan from the political/democratic development of India... as the fool learns from his own mistakes n wise from the others.

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#1 was intented for the other article (if pigs could fly) I dont know how it got posted here.

Dear Ibrahim, I guess it’s time for you to find a wife, and see how fast the pig’s wings are chopped.

Funny stuff.