JOIN USAbout 3,500 members of the Kodava community left the city on Tuesday to participate in a demonstration at New Delhi to press for separate statehood for Kodagu.
The rally ‘Delhi Chalo’ will be held on November 1, when, the members will march from Ramleela Maidan to Parliament Street at the national capital, under the aegis of Codava National Council (CNC). A special train from Mysore has been arranged for the rally. It left the city at 12 noon and will reach Delhi at 2.30 pm on November 31 via Bangalore, Dharmavaram, Nagpur and Agra.
The decades long movement, demanding separate Kodagu state, has gained momentum in the wake of the announcement of Telangana State by the Centre.
President of CNC N U Nachappa said, the rally is being held since 1997 and a massive rally is being held for the third time. He said, every year peace demonstration, hunger strike was being conducted by hundreds of the community members. A memorandum will be submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, President Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister and opposition leaders.
Highlighting the issue of Telangana, he says, political lobby and violence has forced the Centre to declare statehood for Telangana, along with a package, however, our long-standing demand has been brushed aside.
He said, Coorg existed as a C State, under Madras Presidency, till 1956, when unification of Karnataka took place. The Kodava land is rich in culture and tradition, which itself should be a reason to declare it an autonomous State. “We will not resort to violence, but will struggle for statehood in a Gandhian way. If our demands are not met, we will raise the issue in the United Nations,” he added.