Koch royals meet Dass

Koch royals meet Dass

A STAFF REPORTER

Guwahati, July 25: A delegation of the Koch royal families today submitted details of their organisations and families in Bangladesh to Assam Speaker Ranjeet Kumar Dass ahead of his visit to the neighbouring country.

Dass will visit Bangladesh in September to attend the 10-day 62nd Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Dhaka.

"Today, we met Dass and submitted him details of Koch families and organisations in Bangladesh. He said he would take up the issue with the Indian High Commission so that he can meet those people there," Pranab Narayan Dev, the secretary of Consortium of Koch Royal Families, said.

Dass had recently told the community in Barpeta district that he would meet Koch organisations and delegations in Bangladesh to know about their problems.

Dass's assurance had come following the consortium's stand in favour of the Centre's move to grant citizenship to Hindu refugees from Bangladesh. According to the consortium, 19 lakh Koch Rajbongshi people live in Bangladesh and many of them have been facing various kinds of atrocities.

The delegation also appraised Dass on issues like eligibility of the Koch Rajbongshi community for ST status and the condition of the community living in the BTAD.

"The Koch Rajbongshis are geographically isolated, shy of contact with community at large, economically backward and have a distinctive culture. They have a language, a composite behaviour pattern, traditional dress, food habit, folk song, dances, specific rituals, festivities and rituals," a memorandum submitted to Dass said.

The delegation told Dass that despite having the required criteria for ST, the community is regarded as SC in Bengal, OBC in Bihar and OBC and MOBC in Assam.

"We are hopeful that the Speaker will do the needful in support of the community's demand for ST status," said Dev.

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Reference: Koch royals meet Dass. (2016, July 26). In The Telegraph. Retrieved August 7, 2016, from http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160726/jsp/northeast/story_98770.jsp#.V6dtnVL9CmU

 

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