BONGAIGAON: The Chintan Jatiya Abhibartan, organised by the Koch-Rajbongshi Parishad at Janata Club auditorium in Dolaigaon near Bongaigaon on September 27, adopted several resolutions concerning the ethnic identity, language and constitutional rights of the Koch community.
The convention was chaired by Bimal Kumar Barman, founder adviser of the All Koch Rajbongshi Students’ Union (AKRSU). Representatives of various organisations, educationists and researchers participated in the deliberations.
Koch Jatiya Parishad president Biswajit Ray and joint general secretary Dhanjit Ray said the convention appealed to members of the community to record their ethnic identity as “Koch” and mother tongue as “Koch” in the ongoing Census, under the principle of “One Community, One Identity and One Language.”
Ray said the term “Rajbongshi” was an adjective and argued that the hyphenated expression “Koch-Rajbongshi” had fragmented the community’s identity. Following the convention’s resolution, the organisation has also dropped “Rajbongshi” from its name and adopted Koch Jatiya Parishad (Koch National Convention).
The convention also resolved to strengthen research, promotion and development of Koch language, literature and culture. It supported the formation of the Koch Sahitya Parishad, with Bimal Kumar Barman as president and Phanindra Narayan Dev as general secretary. The literary body plans to publish a book titled “Maor Rao”, documenting regional forms of the Koch language spoken in different parts of undivided Goalpara district.
Another major resolution concerned the demand for Scheduled Tribe (Plains) status for indigenous Koch people of Assam. Ray claimed that the community had been demanding ST status since 1967 but that proposals forwarded by the Assam government had repeatedly faced rejection by the Registrar General of India.
According to the organisation, the inclusion of people identified as Rajbongshi, including those who migrated from West Bengal and Bengali Rajbongshis of East Bengal origin, in the broader Koch-Rajbongshi demand has affected the indigenous Koch community’s claim.
The convention therefore demanded that the Assam and Central governments grant ST (Plains) status to indigenous Koch-origin people of undivided Goalpara district, with identification based on the 1951 NRC and 1952 voter lists, stated a press release.
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