Karnataka   

CNC members stage dharna to highlight demands

MADIKERI: The Codava National Council (CNC), pressing for the creation of a Codava Autonomous Region (CAR), among other demands, staged a dharna at the Fort here on Tuesday to draw the attention of the Government.

CNC secretary-general N.U. Nachappa handed over copies of the memorandum to the President, the Prime Minister, the Union Home Minister, the Governor of Karnataka and the Chief Minister to Deputy Commissioner K.R. Niranjan.

The CNC has demanded the creation of an autonomous region encompassing 45 erstwhile ‘nads’ (a group of villages), on the lines of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council. The CAR would be a State within the State of Karnataka. It would ensure autonomy of the Kodavas in politics, usher in financial security and ensure all-round protection, Mr. Nachappa argued. After autonomy, laws would be enacted only with the Governor’s consent, he said.

Ethno-linguistic minority status under Articles 340 and 342 of the Constitution was another significant demand, he said. It would provide reservation for the community in education and employment on a par with tribal people in the country, Mr. Nachappa said.

Buduru Srinivasulu, a member of the National Tribal Commission, who visited this place two years ago, had recommended tribal status to the Kodavas, he recalled.

Under no circumstance, Virajpet area should be declared as a Schedule Area on the basis of the Dilip Singh Bhuria Committee report, Mr. Nachappa said.

The other demand was the need for Central legislation to protect the land tenures in Kodagu, including the ‘Jamma’. The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development should establish a Central university for propagating ‘Codavalogy’ at the proposed site in Kodagu on the lines of Aligarh Muslim University, Sikh University and Banaras Hindu University, he said. The CNC members met Mangalore-Kodagu MP D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Kodagu district in-charge Minister Krishna Palemar, Madikeri MLA M.P. Appachu Ranjan and Virajpet MLA K.G. Bopaiah and apprised them of the need for conceding their demands.

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