As numbers fall, jittery Kodavas seek special status

Even while the cries for the separate state for Kodagu district has died down, the apex body for Kodava separatism, Codava National Council (CNC), has demanded special status for the Kodava community, apprehending alarming decline in their population in Kodagu and elsewhere.
The decline has been attributed to late marriage of both men and women and educated youth marrying outside Kodava community.
A CNC delegation will approach the central government and hold a meeting outside the Parliament House in Delhi later this year.
“We are a community that is dwindling in numbers very fast for many sociological reasons. There is a need to sustain the Kodava genus constitutionally under the Articles 340 and 342 of the Constitution that provide for recognizing ethno-linguistic tribal minority nationality,” CNC president NU Nachappa told DNA.
“The delegation will impress on the government the Constitutional machinery has extend a special ethno-sociological status to Kodava peple, in order to protect the minority Kodava race living in Kodagu and elsewhere,” he said.
Kodava sub-nationalists have in the past demanded a separate state for the community and later changed that demand to an autonomous council as provided under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, on par with the 13 autonomous councils existing in the country. These include 10 in north-east, one West Bengal, 2 in Jammu & Kashmir and one in Andaman Nicobar Islands.
“We cannot but stop this awful dwindling numbers of Kodava community which is a process of social evolution. Youngsters are marrying outside the community. Most of the educated youths with white-collared jobs put off marriage till they settle down. For Kodavas, everything has to be just perfect before they get into familial ties. As a result, they limit their family to a single child ,” KB Ganapathy, editor of ‘Star of Mysore’, a popular English eveninger from Mysore, told DNA.
According to the 2012 population census, there are 2.25 lakh Kodavas all over the world, of who only 1.25 lakh lived within the political jurisdiction of Kodagu district. Kodagu was a separate C grade state till 1956 when re-organisation of states happened, and the government should treat Kodava land on par with Telangana and Hyderabad-Karnataka Region, Kodava separatists say.
“People have forgotten what Kodagu culture is all about. Kodavas were were known for their valour and sportsmanship. But with white-collared jobs and IT and BT culture, Kodavas have become easy-going. Moreover, they have become reliant on tourism and the homestays and resorts have taken Kodavas away from their primary avocation - plantations and agriculture, which is also a cause for such degeneration of a community,” separatism advocate Chengappa of Mangalore says.
Members of the Kodava Student Association in Mangalore is trying to revive the old glory of Kodavas by playing hockey and pledging to join the armed forces when they were out of the portals of the colleges.

Courtesy:-DNA