Kolkata: In an audio message, the leader of militant outfit Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), Jeevan Singha, on Thursday challenged West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to try and truly integrate Cooch Behar into the state, claiming members of the Koch Rajbongshi community were ethnically different from Bengalis and accusing leaders from Kolkata were forcefully trying to subjugate them.
"Mamata Banerjee is trying to rule the land of Kamtapur by force. We will not accept this. If she wants to rule here by force, it will burn. We are not against Bengal. But they are against the idea of Greater Kamtapur," Singh is heard saying in the audio clip.
"Mamata Banerjee must apologize for her words equating Greater Cooch Behar, or Kamtapur, with the rest of West Bengal. Or else, a fire will be ignited in Cooch Behar. I challenge Mamata Banerjee. If she has the power, let her come here and take over Kamtapur," he added.
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The issue of carving out North Bengal and turning it into a separate state gained steam after the West Bengal assembly elections back in April 2021, when BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh from Siliguri called for the proposed new state in lieu of a government order issuing summer vacations till June 15, 2021, due to prevailing heatwave-like conditions. Ghosh noted that heat was specific to the southern part of the state, and termed the order as one of many reasons behind the demand.
In June 2022, CM Mamata Banerjee fired back at the claims, saying BJP was trying to 'fan the demands' of statehood for various parts of Bengal. At the same time, addressing the KLO chief's warnings, the TMC supremo stated that she was ready to 'shed blood' if required. "I am not afraid of such threats," Banerjee said.
