New Delhi: Reiterating their demand to include the Koch Rajbongshi community of Assam into Scheduled Tribe (ST) category and formation of a separate Kamatapur State, leaders from the Koch Rajbongshi community on Wednesday sought immediate intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Leaders from the influential-All Koch Rajbongshi Students Union (AKRSU), Chilarai Sena, and Koch Rajbongshi women association submitted documents to Prime Minister Modi and Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda substantiating their demand for ST status and a separate Kamatapur State.
"Even after promulgation of four back-to-back ordinances by the Indian President in 1996, the concerned Bill of ST status for the Koch Rajbongshi could not be passed in the Parliament. It has been our long pending demand since 1967," said AKRSU president Khitish Barman to ETV Bharat in New Delhi.
As per the 2011 census, the total Koch Rajbongshi population in Assam which comprises three districts (Dhubri, Goalpara, and Bongaigaon) is 4,60,866. Although the Koch Rajbongshi people living in other States have got ST status, in Assam they are excluded from the ST category.
The central government has taken an initiative for granting ST status to the six communities of Assam (including Koch Rajbongshi) by introducing the bill in the Rajya Sabha in January 2019. A committee has also been constituted to review the reservation policy in Assam to facilitate the six communities for the consideration of ST status.
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The Koch kingdom which emerged in the 16th century and flourished during the time of Maharaja Naranarayana (1540-1584AD) and his brother Chila Ray, merged with India on September 12, 1949, through an agreement signed between the last Koch King Maharaja Jagaddipendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur and the Home Minister of India Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel on August 28, 1949.
The present demand for the Koch Rajbongahi community is the re-creation of the historical Kamatapur State comprising the western part of Assam and adjacent part of North Bengal (West Bengal) on the basis of the Merger Agreement of August 28, 1949.
Talking to this correspondent, Lok Sabha MP from Assam Naba Kumar Sarania said that the central government should give ST status to this community for which they are fighting for a long time. "Although giving a separate State is not possible by bifurcating Assam, the government can at least take steps to protect the culture and identity of this community," said Sarania.
