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Assam is Asom

Special Correspondent

Guwahati: Assam on Monday became the third State after Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to re-christen itself with the State Cabinet deciding to replace "Assam" with "Asom."

Minister of State for Planning and Development Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters that the decision was in response to an appeal made by Assamese litterateur and former president of the Assam Sahitya Sabha, Chandra Prasad Saikia. The Minister said that all procedural steps would be taken to give effect to the change.

In an editorial of the literary magazine Gariyoshi, Dr. Saikia insisted that continuing with the name Assam is against the ethos and spirit of Assamese nationalism.

"It is perfectly desirable that the name by which a particular people identifies their State should also be the name of that State for all purposes," he wrote.

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