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North Bengal Statehood Fight Gains New Cooch Behar-Kamtapur Name Battle
Some groups in north Bengal want the region to become a separate state.
They disagree about what that state should be called.
Bangshibadan Barman of the Greater Cooch Behar People’s Association supports the name Cooch Behar.
He says a 1949 agreement used that name.
Other groups support the name Kamtapur.
The disagreement is connected to different ideas about the region’s history and identity.
A meeting was held to remember people who died during a 2005 protest.
Five people died in clashes during that protest, including two protesters and three police personnel.
Greater Cooch Behar People’s Association leader Bangshibadan Barman argued that a proposed separate state should be named Cooch Behar.
Barman said the 1949 Merger Agreement between Cooch Behar’s erstwhile princely state and the Indian government specifies the name Cooch Behar.
He claimed the historical Cooch Behar state included parts of north Bengal and areas of present-day Assam and Bihar.
Other organisations, including the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation and Kamtapur People’s Party, have long demanded a state called Kamtapur.
The GCPA made the argument during a September 20 Martyrs’ Day meeting commemorating two protesters killed in a 2005 agitation.
- Who
- Bangshibadan Barman and the Greater Cooch Behar People’s Association, alongside organisations supporting Kamtapur statehood.
- What
- A dispute has emerged over whether a proposed separate north Bengal state should be called Cooch Behar or Kamtapur.
- Where
- North Bengal, with the meeting held in Cooch Behar.
- When
- The latest position was presented on a Sunday; the meeting commemorated the September 20, 2005 agitation.
- Why
- Barman says the 1949 Merger Agreement specifies Cooch Behar, while other movements use the Kamtapur identity for their statehood demand.
Cooch Behar Position
Kamtapur Position
State name
Cooch Behar Position
The GCPA says the proposed state should be called Cooch Behar because that name appears in the 1949 Merger Agreement.
Kamtapur Position
Kamtapur-focused organisations use Kamtapur as the identity for their separate-state demand.
Historical identity
Cooch Behar Position
Barman bases the demand on the former Cooch Behar princely state and says it covered a larger area than the present Cooch Behar district.
Kamtapur Position
Kamtapur organisations frame their statehood campaign around the Kamtapur identity, although the article does not provide their detailed response to Barman’s interpretation of the agreement.
Key facts
- Main dispute
- Whether the proposed state should be named Cooch Behar or Kamtapur.
- GCPA position
- The Greater Cooch Behar People’s Association supports the name Cooch Behar.
- Historical basis cited
- The 1949 Merger Agreement between the erstwhile Cooch Behar princely state and the Indian government.
- Other statehood groups
- The Kamtapur Liberation Organisation and Kamtapur People’s Party have used the Kamtapur identity.
- Commemorated event
- A September 20, 2005 agitation over demands including a separate Cooch Behar state.
- Deaths in 2005 clashes
- Five people died: three police personnel and two protesters.
- Annual observance
- The Barman-led GCPA observes September 20 as Martyrs’ Day.
Quotes
Bangshibadan Barman
General secretary of the Greater Cooch Behar People’s Association
“Some among us are calling for a ‘Kamtapur’ state in accordance with the agreement, but the document clearly specifies the ‘Cooch Behar’ state. The agreement bears the signature of the last Maharaja of Cooch Behar.”
telegraphindia.com
“Should it be Kamtapur? You be the judge. Will you side with those demanding Kamtapur, or will you stand by the name ‘Cooch Behar’ as stipulated in the agreement?”
telegraphindia.com
Sources
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