Bandh over statehood disrupts life in west Assam

Bijay Sankar Bora

Tribune News Service

Guwahati, June 28

Normal life was paralysed in western Assam on Wednesday because of the 24-hour bandh called from the morning by various Koch Ranbongshi community organisations to press for the long-standing demand for a separate state.

All Assam Koch Rajbongshi Students Union (AKRASU), All Assam Koch Rajbongshi Women’s Union and Chilarai Sena demand a separate Kamatapur state to be carved out of parts of western Assam and part of West Bengal.

The community has sizeable population in western Assam districts and north Bengal area in West Bengal.

Activists of the organisations calling bandh attacked vehicles and burnt rubber tyres on the National Highway 31 in western Assam to enforce the bandh by forcing the vehicular traffic off the road.

All the education institutions and offices remained non-functional in western Assam areas particularly in parts of Kokrajhar district, Bongaigaon, Dhubri, Chirang, and Barpeta.

Bandh supporters set a truck bearing a Maharashtra registration number ablaze in the early morning hours on the national highway at Gossaingaon in Kokrajhar district.  

Koch Rajbongshi community claims to have a population of over 70 lakh within Assam and has been also demanding for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status along with five other indigenous communities in Assam.