Assam: Koch Rajbanshi groups demand ST status, Eighth Schedule recognition for Rajbanshi language

Various Koch Rajbanshi organisations submitted a memorandum to Assam Guardian Minister Ashok Singhal at the Circuit House here, seeking Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the community, recognition of the Rajbanshi language and a number of other demands.

Representatives of the Koch Rajbanshi Sahitya Sabha, Koch Rajbanshi Lekhika Sabha and Koch Rajbanshi Students' Association were among those who submitted the memorandum.

Speaking to reporters, Koch Rajbanshi Sahitya Sabha president Dwijendra Nath Bhakat said their primary demand was the granting of ST status to the Koch Rajbanshi community and clarity on the status of the report submitted by the Assam government in this regard.

The organisations sought to know whether the state's report on granting ST status to the community had been forwarded to the Centre and why the process remained pending.

They also demanded that the upcoming bridge connecting Dhubri with Phulbari be named after a historical Koch Rajbanshi ruler, preferably Maharaja Biswa Singha or Maharaja Parikshit Narayan.

Bhakat said the demand was based on the historical association of the region with Koch rulers and cited accounts of forts established by Maharaja Biswa Singha and later by Parikshit Narayan.

The organisations further urged the government to ensure proper identification of the community and its language during the ongoing Census process, seeking that the community be recorded as Koch Rajbanshi and the language as Rajbanshi.

Another key demand was the inclusion of Rajbanshi in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. Bhakat urged the Assam government to take up the issue in the state Cabinet and Assembly before forwarding a recommendation to the Centre.

He also pointed to measures taken in West Bengal to promote the Rajbanshi language and said similar initiatives should be undertaken in Assam.

Among those present during the memorandum submission were AKRSU general secretary Nimai Chandra Roy, Koch Rajbanshi Sahitya Sabha Samiti vice-president Bipul Chandra Adhikari, UG AKRSU president Ratul Roy, AKRSU working president Raghu Ranjan Bepari and AKRSU president Shyam Koch, besides other community representatives and dignitaries.