An organisation of former militants and linkmen of the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation, a proscribed terror outfit, will hold a public meeting in Assam on March 23 to press for the conclusion of ongoing peace talks between the Cente and the KLO leadership and a separate Kamtapur or a Greater Cooch Behar state.

“Our supporters from across north Bengal, Assam and Bihar will attend the public meeting at Gossaingaon in Assam on March 23. We want the central government to immediately conclude the peace talks with the KLO leadership and simultaneously meet our demands for the separate state and recognition of the Rajbanshi or Kamtapuri language,” Debendranath Roy, the general secretary of the Kamtapur State Demand Council (KSDC), said on Thursday.

On January 2023, Jibon Singha, the self-styled chief of the KLO, had entered India from Myanmar, in response to a proposal mooted by the BJP government at the Centre to hold peace talks on the banned outfit's demands.

Singha’s decision had led to differences within the outfit and D.L. Koch, another leader, had announced the formation of a new outfit, KLO (KN), to continue their fight for the demands.

“In due course, the Centre also brought in D.L. Koch within the ambit of the peace talks. As far as we know, around seven rounds of talks have been held but no agreement has been reached yet. We want the Centre to immediately conclude the talks and sign a peace treaty with the KLO leadership and come up with a clear stand on our demands for the separate state and the recognition of our language,” Roy said.

Such a move by the KSDC, which claims to have considerable clout among the Rajbanshi population of north Bengal, will mount pressure on the BJP, said political observers.

“In 2026, Assembly elections will be held in Bengal and Assam. In both states, there are some seats where the votes of the Rajbanshi population decide the results. Now that the KSDC is flagging the old issues and insisting on peace talks, it will exert pressure on the BJP which had earlier played the polarisation card to draw support from the community. It would be interesting to see how they handle the situation,” said an observer.

“It is a tough call for the BJP, considering the strong sentiments that pervades across Bengal and Assam against further division of the state,” he added.

The KSDC representatives, while elaborating on the ensuing public event, said they were planning an extensive movement across the region if their demands were not met.

“If required, we will launch an extensive movement to achieve our demands. We would also like to invite all political parties to the meeting and support us,” Roy said.