Kokrajhar, Sept. 4: The Royal Union of Koch Rajbongshi has changed its name to Royal Union of Koch Mech.

The union's president, Prithviraj Narayan Dev, said in a statement today, "Koch Rajbongshi cannot be an ethnic community. Rajbongshi mea-ns a royal dynasty and it cannot be an ethnic community."

He said the royal descendants of Koches are allied with Meches (Bodos) and the organisation, in its central executive meeting, had declared to change its name. "It may be bitter for somebody, but it cannot be debated as it is based on history. Historian Kamtaratna Ambika Charan Choudhury in his books had also mentioned this," Dev said, adding that it was impossible for everyone to know the history of Koch-Mech heritage.

Without taking names, he said it was worrying that some syndicate-based leaders claimed themselves to be students and were trying to spoil the history and heritage of the Koch-Mech relationship.

He said the government and intellectuals should bring up the true Koch-Mech relationship, which was being deliberately kept in the dark by some so called leaders, in the limelight.

Dev said they would raise their voices for any matter related to a greater Koch-Mech Indo-Mongolian society. He had earlier said the royal descendants of Sidli kingdom were actually Rajkoch.

He urged the people to rely on history and reminded them about the unity of Indo-Mongolian Society. Otherwise, he said, the Indo-Mongolian society would never forgive them.