The Kamtapur Liberation Organization (KLO), a banned separatist group active in western Assam and northern Bengal, is getting closer to beginning peace talks with the Indian government.
Pavel Koch, the KLO’s Foreign Secretary, sent a video message to both the national and state administrations on Tuesday, reminding them of the Cooch Behar Merger Agreement, which acknowledged Kamtapur as a “full-fledged constituent state of the Union of India.”
Pavel Koch’s message
“As you are all aware, Kamatapur was an independent state in the nation’s committee till August 28, 1949. However, on that day, the state of Kamatapur and the Indian government signed a historic agreement. The Cooch Behar Merger Agreement was the name of the agreement.
The Maharaja Jagadeependra Narayan Bhup Bahadur and the then-Indian Home Minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, inked this treaty. The most important aspect of this agreement was that Cooch Behar was recognised as a full-fledged component state of India.
However, it is a source of great regret that, at the request of then-Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, during the reorganisation of the states of the Union of India in 1950, the state of Kamatapur was made a constituent part of the states of West Bengal, Assam, and Bihar, rather than being made an autonomous state within the Union of India.
The whole population of the erstwhile state of Kamatapur became India’s subject overnight. The Kamatapuri people’s fundamental cultural economy, social, and historical rights were lost at one point. Not only that, but when Bangladesh was founded, millions of Bengali-speaking immigrants were dumped and given sanctuary at Kamtapur.
Not only that, but when Bangladesh was founded, millions of Bengali-speaking immigrants were dumped and given sanctuary at Kamtapur. As a result, not only did the inhabitants of Kamatapur confront major challenges to their national identity, but they also had to deal with a terrible and painful economic crisis.
With no other choice, the inhabitants of Kamatapur had no choice but to take up the promise to struggle and battle to reclaim everything they had lost. The revolutionary organisation of Kamatapur (KLO) was founded on December 28, 1993, in the midst of this crisis. The Indian government has proposed peace negotiations after recognising the source of the conflict and the reality of the situation on the ground.
The revolutionary organisation of Kamatapur (KLO) was founded on December 28, 1993, in the midst of this crisis. The Indian government has proposed peace negotiations after recognising the source of the conflict and the reality of the situation on the ground. The residents of Kamatapur, as well as various Kamatapuri organisations, have embraced and supported this initiative.
This suggestion for negotiations is also strongly supported by KLO. We owe our gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. We, like a number of other organisations, wish to find a long-term solution to our political dilemma through peaceful communication and discussion,” Pavel Koch said in the video.
Brief on KLO
The Koch Rajbongshi community wants an independent Kamtapur state, which was originally affiliated with the ULFA, or United Liberation Front of Asom, in Bhutan and Myanmar.
The Kamtapur Liberation Organization (KLO) was founded on December 28, 1993, and advocates for the construction of a Kamtapur state made up of six Bengal districts (Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Malda, and North and South Dinajpur) and four western Assam districts (Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Dhubri, and Goalpara).
It is a member of the United National Liberation Front of Western Southeast Asia (UNLFW), which is led by ULFA-I, or the United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent.
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