GCPA leaders to meet Shinde over statehood demand

Prashant Acharya, EOI, Siliguri, 6 November 2013: An eight-member team from the Greater Cooch Behar People’s Association will on Thursday meet Union home minister Sushil Kumar Sindhe over the demand for a separate state.

The meeting will discuss on the statehood issue for the Koch and Kamtapuri peoples of North Bengal and lower Assam. Speaking from New Delhi this afternoon, GCPA president Shivaji Sarkar said five leaders from Assam and three from North Bengal will meet the home minister.

“History shows the kingdom of Kamatapur (Cooch Behar) was ruled for 1,500-2,000 years by our people and research has also been conducted by many students from various universities,” he said. “The best means of communicating human expressions is through one’s mother tongue as it is the most natural. If people’s natural expression through their mother tongue is suppressed, inferiority complexes will grow in their minds, encouraging a defeatist mentality and ultimately leading to psycho-economic exploitation. Thus, no mother tongue should be suppressed.”

According to Sarkar, geo-psychological characteristics should also be considered during socio-economic planning. For example, people living in wet areas in India’s east tend to be weak and lethargic, while those living in west dry areas tend to be strong and active. This may be called the ‘East Wet Theory’. Such characteristics are not caused by individual strengths or weaknesses but are the result of geo-psychological factors. The Cooch Behar, Kamtapur and Assamese peoples live in a wet eastern region and are physically weak and lethargic. Such factors should be given due consideration when formulating socio-economic plans.

Besides Sarkar, GCPA general secretary Gayanath Barman and Narayan Singha will also be present in the meeting with the home minister. The leaders from Assam will include Biswajit Roy, Pradit Roy, Binita Roy, Purabi Sarkar, Hiteshwar Barman and Pranabjyoti.