Interview | 'There Are Few Documents on the Diverse History of Koch Rajbanshis'

Guwahati: A few days after the lynching incident of two youth, Nilotpal and Abhijeet Das in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district, a Koch Rajbanshi boy was brutally beaten in public. The video of that incident was streamed on social media and selectively ignored by both regional and national press. The mob had aggressively questioned whether his name appeared in the National Register for Citizens (NRC) or not.

This is not the first time that the rights of a Koch Rajbanshi individual have been violated. In the peak of the Bodo Movement (1989), more than 200 Koch-Rajbanshi families belonging to 43 villages from the northern part of Bongaigaon (now Chirang) district, fled from their homes, leaving behind their valuables and took shelter in various designated camps to escape the slaughter of armed Bodo militants. The dominant cultural amnesia might have wiped out these events but the long lasting trauma among those inflicted has remained intact.

Historically, the term “Koch” has three meanings and uses – it is the name of a dynasty, an ethnic group and a desh (country) i.e. Cooch Behar. Accounts from the Mughal period, like the Ain-i-Akbari and Baharistan-i-Ghaybi, have referred to the area as “Koch”. Within India and South Asia currently, the term “Koch” has been (almost) replaced by “Rajbanshi” in North Bengal, Bihar and Nepal. Since 1996, the terms ‘Koch’ and ‘Rajbanshi’ are officially used as one term ‘Koch–Rajbanshi’ in Assam.

Viswakarma (Biswakarma) Pooja

Who is Viswakarma (Biswakarma) 

Vishwakarma is regarded as the main craftsman and architect of Gods. Biswakarma is so n of Lord Brahma, the creator of the whole universe.  Viswakarma is  the official builder of all the gods' palaces. As per Hindu mythologies Vishwakarma is the designer of all the flying chariots of the gods and goddesses. He designed and made the weapons for them of too.

In Mahabharata, the world’s biggest epic, he is described as "The lord of the arts, executor of a thousand handicrafts, the carpenter of the gods, the most eminent of artisans, the fashioner of all ornaments  and a great and immortal god."

 

डिकमान पुरस्कारबाट प्रतिदिनका सम्पादक राजवंशी पुरस्कृत हुँदै

 झापा , साउन २७ । डिकमान विरही उत्कृष्ट पत्रकारिता पुरस्कारबाट प्रतिदिन दैनिकका सम्पादक इन्द्रसिंह राजवंशी पुरस्कृत हुने भएका छन् ।

नेपाल आदिवासी जनजाति पत्रकार महासंघ(फोनिज) जिल्ला कार्य समिति झापाले २२ औं स्थापना दिवसको अवसरमा आज सो घोषणा गरेको हो । डिकमान विरही उत्कृष्ट पत्रकारिता पुरस्कार २०७७ राजवंशीलाई प्रदान गरिने भएको हो । त्यस्तै यस वर्षको पुरस्कार भने पत्रकार कमन देवानलाई प्रदान गरिने भएको छ । सो पुरस्कारको राशि जनही २५ हजार नगद रहेको छ । कोरोना महामारीका कारण गत वर्ष सो पुरस्कार प्रदान गर्न सकिएको थिएन । त्यस्तै उदयीमान पत्रकारिता पुरस्कार २०७७ मिना नेम्बाङ, सुभला तामाङ, २०७८ का लागि डिल्लीश्वर मुसाहाङ (अम्याङ्सा) र लीला राईलाई छनौंट गरिएको फोनिज झापाका अध्यक्ष बिशाल नेम्बाङले बताए । उदयीमान पत्रकारिता पुरस्कारको राशि जनही ५ हजार रुपैयाँ रहेको छ ।आगामी अधिवेशनमा सो पुरस्कार वितरण गरिने अध्यक्षले नेम्बाङले जानकारी दिए । फोनिज झापाले हरेक स्थापना दिवसमा डिकमान विरही उत्कृष्ट पत्रकारिता पुरस्कार एकजना अग्रज पत्रकार र उदयीमान पत्रकारिता पुरस्कार २ जना नयाँ पत्रकारलाई वितरण गर्दै आएको छ ।

The Elephant Riders === Goalpara folk songs keep alive the unknown, uncertain lives of the mahouts

The green carpet of tea gardens in Assam spreading for miles, with majestic elephants trotting as per their mood, reminds me of the Goalpara folk song ‘O Mor Mahut Bondhu Re’.

  

This working class song, woven around mahouts (elephant riders) and mela shikar, the traditional method of capturing wild elephants, has been immortalised by two singers, Bhupen Hazarika and Protima Baruah.

It is perhaps the only pop song associated with elephant trapping and the risks that mahouts undertook while the womenfolk awaited their return.

Preserving food and preservation techniques used by the Rajbanshis

vFish preservation: Washing, cutting, and sun-drying are performed one by one; dry fishes are then dusted and mixed up with paste of arum leaf base and finally, round hand-made fish balls are prepared. In dried fish production, with the cleaned fishes, Rajbanshis donot mix up salt before keeping them under the sunbeam on dry soil. They even donot treat these fishes with turmeric or warm them on any tawa (plate) on stove. In other places, salt and turmeric are used. There the proportion of salt and turmeric depends upon the nature of the fish variety. In some cases, fishes are often stored under the dried soil. But here, fishes (washed and cut) are often but simply sun dried and then dusted to form fish balls with the help of sticky extract from black arum leaf base; these balls are generally prepared in monsoons or post-monsoon period; these balls are cooked as curry or consumed in fried condition. Fish balls are generally termed as sidal.

vPickle production: Green mango, carambola, tamarind, pine apple and plum could be stored as pickle. Sweet fruits (even banana) could be fermented and stored as tari, juice of palm and date or rice alcohol for long. Alcohol is produced from rice, malt, and millet. These stuffs have to be fermented at cold place in earthern or wooden pots or bucket with water. Foam comes out and alcohol is produced.