Opinion: NRC, But Not CAA - What West Bengal's Rajbongshi Community Wants

With Lok Sabha elections just weeks away, the Centre's step to notify the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) rules is being seen by a section as an attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to win votes in West Bengal. Its implementation had been a long-standing demand of the Matua community, who took refuge in the border state after fleeing religious persecution in East Pakistan (later Bangladesh).

Matuas are Namashudras and constitute over 17% of the Scheduled Castes (SC) in West Bengal. They are the second-largest SC group in the state after the Rajbongshis of north Bengal.

Why Both BJP And Trinamool Want Rajbongshi Support

Both the opposition BJP as well as the state's ruling All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) have been trying to woo the Rajbongshis in north Bengal. The community, whose population numbers over 33 lakh, inhabit the Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Malda, and Murshidabad districts. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP swept the region, thanks largely to the support of Rajbongshis.

Several organisations in this part of West Bengal have been demanding a separate state of Greater Cooch Behar, which includes seven districts of north Bengal, in addition to Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, and Dhubri in Assam. They say that Cooch Behar's inclusion into West Bengal was "illegal" and that the current situation goes against the treaty signed on August 28, 1949, by the Government of India and their then-king, Jagaddipendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur. Some also point out that between 1971 and 2011, the community's share in North Bengal's population decreased from 80% to merely 30%. They allege that the influx of people from across the border has increased, and that these "intruders are living on lands once owned by Rajbongshis".

The People Pressing For A New State

Bangshibadan Barman, the leader of a faction of the Greater Cooch Behar Peoples' Association (GCPA), recently reiterated his opposition to the implementation of CAA during a telephone conversation. He stated that the Union government did not discuss the issue with them. Barman, said to hold considerable influence among Rajbongshis, also raised the merger agreement of 1949 and stood by their demand for the creation of a new state. 

Barman was taken into custody in 2005 after three people lost their lives in an agitation. In 2016 again, three died in renewed protests. While several leaders of the GCPA were taken into custody, the top leadership, including Barman, were said to be missing.

Barman harbours political ambition, which is considered necessary by some of his followers to cultivate political clout in order to pursue their demands. He even contested, though unsuccessfully, the 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha polls as an independent candidate from Cooch Behar.

Another faction of the GCPA is led by Ananta Rai, who is said to be the descendant of the erstwhile ruler of Cooch Behar and carries the title of "Maharaj" with his name. The BJP recently nominated Rai for the Rajya Sabha.

Deporting Illegal Immigrants

The BJP's MP from Cooch Behar, Nisith Pramanik, who is also Union Minister of State for Home Affairs and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, is said to be in touch with Ananta 'Maharaj'. Though Pramanik won by a margin of over 54 thousand votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, in the 2021 assembly polls from the Dinhata segment, he scraped through with a lead of less than 60 votes over the Trinamool's Udayan Guha. He resigned later, preferring to retain his Parliamentary seat.

In the ensuing re-poll, Guha trounced BJP's Ashok Mondal by a margin of more than 1.64 lakh votes, which constituted 85% of the vote share. The main reason for this turn of events was attributed to a switch of the Rajbongshi community's votes.

Other Rajbongshi groups demanding separate statehood include the Kamatapur People's Party, the Greater Cooch Behar Demanding Committee (GCDC), the All Koch Rajbongshi Students' Union, and the Koch Rajbongshi Sanmilani. 

Many of them want the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to determine illegal immigrants and pave the way for their deportation. Even so, for the agitating groups, statehood remains a priority.

BJP Sympathetic, But Not Supportive Of It

Though the BJP has not supported the Greater Cooch Behar theory, it is seen as being sympathetic to the Rajbongshi cause. Many functionaries and supporters have justified carving out North Bengal from the state and making it a Union Territory. They claim that despite contributing significantly to the state exchequer, the area continues to remain poor and backward. They also argue that because its strategic location is critical, the area cannot be left to state governments, which may be influenced by vote-bank politics. 

Detractors complain that this is just a strategy to cut the influence of the party ruling from Kolkata as the state's ruling dispensation, since 1977, has always stood in opposition to successive Union governments. However, there were brief intervals of friendship when the Left - then in power in the state - supported the United Progressive Alliance-1 (UPA) government at the Centre. Again, the TMC had continued to be part of the NDA and the Union Cabinet even when Mamata Banerjee returned home to become chief minister.

Now, leaders of various Rajbongshi organisations are threatening to take to the streets to press for separate statehood again. Meanwhile, BJP leaders have been asked to remain silent on the contentious issue till at least the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, something that is being perceived as an apprehension on the party's end that the rest of Bengal would not accept further partition of the state.

(Jayanta Bhattacharya is a senior journalist writing on polls and politics, conflict, farmer and human interest issues.)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author