Koch-Rajbongshis oppose ‘Bodoland state’

By our Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, March 18: The All Assam Koch Rajbongshi Sanmilani (AAKRS) has strongly opposed All Bodo Students’ Union’s (ABSU) demand for a separate ‘Bodoland state’.
In a statement issued to the press today, AAKRS general secretary Himu Rajbongshi said: “We won’t let any Bodoland state to come up on age-old Koch land. The Bodos have been demanding Bodoland in the North Bank of the Brahmaputra. The formation of the BAC on February 20, 1993 robbed the Koch Rajbongshis of their political rights. As many as 643 Koch-Rajbongshi families have been languishing in refugee camps after Bodo militants burnt their homes and hearths. If the proposed Bodoland State is created, more Koch families will be homeless on their own land. Of the 18 lakh BAC population, polulations of Bodos, Garos and Rabhas total only six lakh as against 7.80 lakh Koch-Rajbongshi population. The rest are Muslims, Rajbongshis converted to Islam, Bengalis, th-Jogi, Kalitas, Brahmins, and others. We’re not going to support the formation of Bodoland State by depriving all these communities. A section of Bodo leadership’s statement on Mech King in West Assam is not based on facts. There was no Mech King in that area, not even today.”