Guwahati: ST status for Koch Rajbongshi and Kamatapur State demanded

Staff reporter

Guwahati: A massive protest erupted on Monday as thousands gathered at the Chachal protest site under the banner of the Sadou Asom Kamatapur Rajya Dabi Parishad, pressing for long-pending demands, including Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the Koch Rajbongshi community and the creation of a separate Kamatapur state.

The demonstration drew widespread participation, with over 34 allied organizations lending support. Protesters arrived from several districts across Assam, including Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Chirang, Baksa, Udalguri, Goalpara, and Bongaigaon, as well as from neighbouring states like West Bengal and Bihar. They carried banners, raised slogans, and held a day-long peaceful protest urging the government to act without further delay.

Among the key demands raised were the immediate granting of ST status to the Koch Rajbongshi community, the re-establishment of a Kamatapur state, inclusion of the Rajbongshi language in the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, and expediting the peace process with the Kamatapur Liberation Organization (KLO).

In a striking display of symbolic protest, several demonstrators shaved their heads in a mundan andolan, expressing deep frustration and disillusionment with the repeated failure of successive governments to fulfill promises made decades ago.

Leaders addressing the gathering criticized both the Central and Assam governments for their continued inaction. “The Koch Rajbongshi people have waited too long for justice. The promise of ST status and political autonomy cannot remain in cold storage forever,” said one protest organizer.

The protest comes at a time when peace talks between the Government of India and the KLO, a banned insurgent group, remain ongoing but irregular. The KLO has expressed willingness to join the mainstream, but protest leaders stressed that meaningful steps, not symbolic gestures, are the need of the hour.

Organizers have warned that if the government continues to ignore their demands, the agitation will intensify into a broader, statewide movement with sustained mobilizations in the coming days.

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