Madikeri: Kodava people and their lands are inseparable and the State Government should not make any attempt to snatch their rights, Codava National Council (CNC) secretary general, N.U. Nachappa, said here on Wednesday.

Leading a dharna at the Fort here, which houses the Deputy Commissioner's office, to observe the "International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination", Mr. Nachappa said successive State Governments had undermined the interests of the Kodavas by tampering with their inherent rights. Majority people in the State should have protected the minority Kodavas, he stated.

Mr. Nachappa reiterated the demands of the CNC, the main one being a separate Codava Autonomous Region (CAR), by bringing together the erstwhile 45 `nads' in Kodagu, on the lines of the Gorkha Hill Council.

The Government must provide Constitutional recognition and guarantee to the language, literature, tradition, heritage of the Kodavas.

Kodava population should be considered an ethno-lingual primitive tribal group and reservation must be extended to them in all fields, Mr. Nachappa said.

Minority status

The State and the Central Governments must accord ethno-linguistic minority status to Kodavas. Since the amalgamation of Coorg into Mysore in 1956, State Governments had attempted to trample upon the rights of Kodava people.

This should stop, Mr. Nachappa added.

Later, a memorandum addressed to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was handed over to the district administration.

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