KLO leader threatens Kamtapur Autonomous Council chief to seek forgiveness for calling Koch Rajbongshis part of Assam

Koch insurgent group Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) foreign secretary, major Koch Pavel has threatened the chief of Kamtapur Autonomous Council Gokul Barman to seek forgiveness publicly or face a boycott from Kamtapur area after the latter said that Koch Rajbongshi people are part of the Assamese community.

In a video released by senior KLO leader Koch Pavel, the militant states, “A few days ago, former AAKRASU general secretary and current KAC chief Gokul Barman in a student meets stated that Koch Rajbongshi people are part of the Assamese community. This statement has come to the notice of the KLO and the organisation clearly disapproves of Barman’s statement. I would like to ask from where did Barman gather the strength to make this statement? It proves here that Barman is a foolish person who has no knowledge and still he has been made a leader, additionally he was once a student leader of the Koch Rajbongshis. At a time when the demand for ST status and different Kamatapur states is en route, Barman has made such a foolish statement. On behalf of the Kamatapur Liberation Organisation, I demand Barman seek forgiveness for the statement made within 24 hours or face a boycott from the Kamatapur area.”

The chief of the banned Kamtapur Liberation Organisation from some undisclosed location released an audio message, reviving the demand for a Greater Cooch Behar state or Kamtapur state.

In the audio message released a couple of days ago, Jeevan Singha, the chief of KLO, said, "In 1949 August, there was a historic agreement between independent India and independent Coochbehar; this was the Coochbehar Merger Agreement. The focal point of the agreement was the declaration of Greater Cooch Behar or Kamtapur state as a C-category state. After 70 years of the signing of an agreement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have taken initiative under the ambit of the constitution to grant C-category state status to Kamtapur or Greater Cooch Behar state. We appreciate and welcome this move to fulfil the sentiments of the Merger agreement. We are hopeful that within 2022 our aspiration shall be fulfilled. We are fully capable of running our own state. We want to taste the Amrit of the Azadi Ka Mahotsav”.

This is not the first time that Jeevan Singha has mentioned the demand for a separate state. In mid-2022, in a video released by KLO, he referred to the Mamata Banerjee government as "bahiragata (outsider)". 

Singha also named three MPs of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), namely Cooch Behar MP Nisith Pramanik, Jalpaiguri MP Jayanta Roy and Alipurduar MP John Barla, as supporters of a separate Koch-Kamtapur state.

Also read : Assam: Bongaigaon district magistrate imposes Section 144, bans playing of loudspeaker and DJ systems