Internal quota: Karnataka Nomadic Communities threaten to stage dharna at AICC

New Delhi: The Karnataka Scheduled Caste Nomadic Communities Federation has announced an indefinite dharna in front of the AICC headquarter here from Saturday to condemn the injustice faced by nomadic communities following the Karnataka Government's announcement of new internal reservation for Scheduled Caste.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, federation office-bearers said that "The Congress government in Karnataka has done injustice to us in the internal reservation. As a last resort, we have come to knock on Delhi's doors. We have been waiting patiently for 10 days seeking an audience with top Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi. We are determined not to return without securing our rightful 1% reservation."

"While Karnataka celebrates the Dasara festival, we, the nomadic communities, are sitting on the streets in the national capital. This time, there is no festival for us," the federation office bearers said.

Highlighting the plight of the communities, Basavaraj Narayankar, a member of the community said that, “In around 22 caste groups, not even one person has ever gone to school, while in another 17, no one has gone beyond 5th grade. Siddaramaiah, who speaks about social justice and projects himself as the champion of backward classes, claimed he cannot help us at all.”

"We have no land for farming, no capital for business. We wander from village to village, dressed in costumes, begging for alms," he said.

"When we protested at Jantar Mantar for reservation for the past few days, some congress leaders held talks with us, but no clear assurances have been given so far. We are waiting to meet AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to share our grievances. We will return only after meeting Congress’s top leaders and securing our rights," he said.

The press conference was attended by federation office-bearers Manjunath Dayatkar, Basavaraj Narayankar, Mandya Rajanna, Sandeep Kumar, Sharanappa Tummarguddi and Kariyappa Gudimani.