Bengal man slapped with NRC notice to miss tribunal hearing?
Times of India | 14 July 2025
12 Jalpaiguri: Fifty-year-old Cooch Behar resident Uttam Kumar Brajabashi, the member of the Rajbanshi community who received an NRC notice from an Assam foreigners tribunal, is likely to give his document submission hearing on Tuesday a miss. His lawyer, Apurba Sinha, was supposed to attend the Kamrup tribunal hearing on Brajabashi's behalf. But having been unable to contact Brajabashi over the past few days, Sinha is sceptical of attending the hearing.
"Assam govt identified him as an illegal immigrant who entered India through the Assam border between 1966 and 1971 and was residing in Dinhata. Surprisingly, another document prepared by Assam govt shows Brajabashi was born in 1977. When govt itself is claiming Brajabashi is 48 years old, how can they ask for documents from between 1966 and 1971?" Sinha said. "However, I am not sure if I can represent him at the tribunal as I have not been able to contact him for the past few days," he added.
Meanwhile, Assam govt on Feb 4 issued a notification stating that all Koch Rajbanshis would be treated as indigenous people of Assam. On April 11, Assam chief secretary Partha P Majumdar instructed govt pleaders in Assam to withdraw pending NRC-related cases against people belonging to the Koch Rajbanshi community.
Questioning the term "Koch Rajbanshi" in Assam govt notices, North Bengal development minister Udayan Guha said, "There is no Koch Rajbanshi community in Cooch Behar or other parts of north Bengal. Yes, there are Rajbanshi people. The notification by Assam govt is misleading and confusing.
""We have assured Brajabashi and all other Rajbanshis that our govt and party are with them," Guha told TOI. Sources said Brajabashi may be on the dais on the July 21 martyrs' day rally in Kolkata.
BJP's Cooch Behar chief Avijit Barman said, "There is no difference between Koch Rajbanshi and Rajbanshi. Since it was a Cooch Behar kingdom, indigenous people are often called Koch. They are the same. Governing party leaders know this well.
" He added: "They are just trying to create confusion in an effort to recover their lost ground in north Bengal, especially among the Rajbanshi population. Uttam Kumar Brajabashi has no reason to be afraid.