The Hindu | BANGALORE:
Activists of the Codava National Council (CNC) staged a one-day sathyagraha in Bangalore on Monday demanding the creation of Codava Autonomous Region on the lines of the Gorkha Hill Council in Darjeeling.
The protest, which coincided with World Minorities Rights’ Day, was held in front of the Queen’s statue at Cubbon Park.
CNC secretary-general N.U. Nachappa told The Hindu that the council would take up the matter with the United Nations if the State and the Centre did not respond to its demands within a year from now.
The council has appealed to the Kodavas to return all the awards received from the State and the Centre, barring the armed forces, to protest the delay in conceding its demands.
Mr. Nachappa argued that the celebration of the Suvarna Karnataka would be incomplete without the creation of Codava Autonomous Region.
The other demands of the council include granting of primitive-ethno-linguistic-minority tribal status, that makes Kodavas eligible for reservation in education and employment; Constitutional special guarantee to the Kodava land — barring the non-Kodavas from buying the land in district and setting up a Central University in Kodagu.