Last modified: 2015-07-28 by ian macdonald
Keywords: koch kingdom | rajbongshi | kamtapur |
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image by Chrystian Kretowicz, 17 April 2009
Koch Rajbongshi is an ancient tribe originally from the ancient Koch Kingdom.
The Rajbongshi Tribe is referred to as Koch Rajbongshi/Rajbanshi/Rajvanshi.
The word Rajbongshi means literally "Royal community". They have a rich
cultural heritage and their own language. The homelands of this ancient
tribe include West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and various
North Eastern parts of India. Because of migration this community can be
found in various parts of India and in other parts of the world. The
Rajbongshi/Rajbanshi language is spoken by 2,982,280 people according to a
1991 census report for Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Malda,
Murshidabad; Assam, Goalpara District; Bihar and Purnia District, in India.
The language is also spoken in Bangladesh and Nepal. Other names of the
language are Kamtapuri, Rajbangsi, Rajbansi, Rajbongshi and Tajpuri. The
Rajbanshi language has a complete grammar.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajbongshi
The Kamatapur is the ancient name of the Koch dynasty which includes the
present divided Kamatapur kingdom which includes the entire North-Bengal of
the West Bengal, most of the parts of present Assam and adjoining parts of
Bihar, Nepal, Bhutan and the present parts of the ancient Rongpur of
Bangladesh. It is a state demanded by the Rajvanshi/Rajbongshi/Koch-Rajbongshi people. People in West Bengal have
claimed discrimination by the West Bengal government that has led to the
poor state of affairs in the region. Among the demands include recognition of
their vernacular Kamtapuri, establishing a separate university,
development of education and the setting up of a separate state. There
are legal, above ground political parties (Kamtapur People's Party, Kamtapur
Progressive Party) which are trying to advance the issue of Kamtapur statehood
by the electoral means, civil disobedience and strikes.
James B. Minahan (Encyclopedia of the Stateless
Nations - Ethnic and National Croups Around the World - volume III)
presents:
"The Rajbangsi national flag, the traditional flag of the
nation, is a horizontal bicolor of blue over green.
Chrystian Kretowicz,
17 April 2009
image by Chrystian Kretowicz, 17 April 2009
The violent
struggle for the statehood is led by the Kamtapur Liberation Organization:
"The origin of the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) can be traced
to the attempts of certain members of the Rajbongshi community belonging to
the all Kamtapur Students’ Union (AKSU) to organise an armed struggle for
a separate Kamtapur State. For this purpose, they approached the United
Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). ULFA reportedly agreed to train them in
order to gain foothold outside Assam, in the other geographically contiguous
Indian States, to use them as transit routes. ULFA’s line of thinking was
that, it would not only facilitate the movement of its cadres to their
base camps in Bhutan but also provide a safe haven for the injured or sick
cadres. The KLO came into existence on December 28, 1995. At the time of
its formation, its cadre strength was an estimated 60. However,
subsequently, it is said to be operating with approximately 300 'active
cadres'.
The objective of the KLO is to carve out a separate Kamtapur
State comprising six districts–– Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri,
North and South Dinajpur and Malda––of West Bengal and four contiguous
districts of Assam––Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Dhubri and Goalpara. At its
inception, the KLO was an above-ground organisation and was formed to address
problems such as large-scale unemployment, land alienation, perceived neglect
of Kamtapuri language and identity, and grievances of economic
deprivation. Soon, its strategy transformed into waging armed struggle.
The KLO is alleged to be the armed
underground wing of Kamtapur People’s Party (KPP). Available evidence
suggests that it maintains close linkages with the ULFA. Soon after its
formation, its members were imparted arms training during 1996-97 in Samdrup
Jhankar in Bhutan, and also subsequently at Gelengphu and Kalaikhola. The
KLO's headquarters is situated near that of ULFA's at Samdrup Jhankar.
Reports even suggest that the KLO is the brainchild of Raju Baruah, ULFA's
'deputy commander'.
There was another militant organization (now, more or less,
defunct) - Koch-Rajbongshi Liberation Organization - KRLO, formed by ULFA
in 1995. Like the Kamtapur Liberation Organization (KLO), its reported goal
is to establish a separate State, comprising Koch-Rajbongshi-inhabited
areas of northern Assam.
More at:
http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/assam/terrorist_outfits/klo.htm
James B. Minahan (Encyclopedia of the Stateless
Nations - Ethnic and National Croups Around the World - volume III)
presents:
The flag of the
Kamtapur Liberation Organization is a tricolor of blue, white and green, with a
large black triangle at the hoist charged with three white stars.
Chrystian Kretowicz,
17 April 2009
image by Jaume Ollé, 17 April 2009
The flag of Koch-Rajbongshi Liberation Organization - KRLO - is a green
over yellow horizontal bicolor.
Chrystian Kretowicz, 17 April 2009