Jibon Singha, the self-styled chief of the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation, said on Friday that although the stated objective of the outfit was a separate state, the KLO was ready to settle for a Union territory.

A 10-member delegation comprising Singha, former KLO militants, and representatives of the Kamtapur State Demand Council (KSDC), is slated to attend the peace talks with the Centre in Delhi on February 25.

Singha, while talking over the phone on Friday, said: “We have been called for talks by the advisers of the Union home ministry who are into negotiations with different outfits in the Northeast. Our principal demand is a separate state, but we are ready to accept even a Union territory. We hope the talks will be effective and conclusive this time.”

The KLO leader, who had responded to the Centre’s call for peace talks and entered Assam from Myanmar in January 2023, said the Assembly resolution against the further division of Bengal delayed the negotiations.

In August 2024, the Trinamool Congress had tabled the resolution in the Assembly and the BJP had supported it.

“Because of this joint move by Mamata Banerjee and Suvendu Adhikari, the negotiation process was delayed. But we are confident that the central government would make a decision this time and would also meet the other demands of the recognition of the Rajbanshi language and ST status for the Koch-Kamtapuri population,” he added.

With the Assembly elections round the corner, the Centre’s plan to hold the peace talks has assumed political significance.

Tapati Roy Mallick, the chairperson of KSDC, said the Rajbanshi population had voted BJP in many elections.

“We have supported the BJP earlier, and if our demands are met, we will support the party again. However, if the demands remain unfulfilled, we would give a second thought to our political stand,” she said.

Fast for jobs

A group of former KLO militants and linkmen launched an indefinite hunger strike in front of the Cooch Behar municipality from Thursday, demanding their immediate recruitment as special home guards.

Since 2011, after Mamata Banerjee assumed the chief minister’s office, her government has engaged a number of such people as home guards as a part of their rehabilitation.

Those who have joined the hunger strike said that verification of 151 candidates has been carried out by the police. “We have also provided other relevant details to the police, but so far, we have not been recruited. That is why 25 of us have launched the hunger strike,” said one of them.

On Friday, Abhijit De Bhowmik, the TMC president of Cooch Behar district, met the agitators.

He spoke to them and said that he would pass their message to the necessary quarters, said sources.

Additional Reporting By Our Cooch Behar Correspondent