KOLKATA: "We will abide by the Constitution and carry forward our movement for a separate Greater Cooch Behar peacefully and in a democratic manner," Bangshi Badan Burman, general secretary of the Greater Cooch Behar People's Association (GCPA), said on Monday.

The activities of the GCPA, demanding "either a separate State or Union Territory of Greater Cooch Behar" to be carved out of the districts of north Bengal and eastern Assam, have caused a flutter. Five persons died in a clash last week between GCPA supporters and the police in Cooch Behar.

GCPA leaders cite the 1949 treaty between the Government of India and the Maharaja of Cooch Behar, Jagatdipendra Narayan, that led to the merger of the princely state with India as a "document that substantiates our claim for special autonomous status for Cooch Behar."

"We have no links with any militant outfit — be it the United Liberation Front of Asom or the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation — and have no intention of seeking the support of either," Mr. Burman told The Hindu over phone from Cooch Behar. "The GCPA was set up in September 1998, and it has taken us seven years to marshal our forces."

Last week, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee denounced the re-emergence of separatist forces in north Bengal and warned that the people would foil any attempt to divide the State. Mr. Bhattacharjee accused militant outfits such as the ULFA of fomenting trouble in the region and providing support to organisations such as the GCPA and previously, the KLO.

Centre intimated

The West Bengal Government informed the Home Ministry of the developments in north Bengal in the wake of the GCPA's recent activities and conveyed its views on the treaty of accession that the association's leaders have been referring to in support of their political agenda.

Also awaiting a response from the Centre is Mr. Burman. "We called off our four-day-long hunger strike in Cooch Behar last week following an assurance from the district administration that our demands had been passed on to the Centre. Our movement will be resumed only after we get to know what the Centre has to say. We will be informed of it at a meeting promised to us on October 15 by the District Magistrate," he said.

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