Vokkaligas take position; D K Shivakumar to resolve confusion

Bengaluru: The 'dominant' Vokkaligas demonstrated their strength on Saturday as leaders from across party lines came together to discuss the upcoming Social & Educational Survey, and top pontiff Nirmalanandanatha Swami issued a stern message that the community should not get divided. 

It was decided that all Vokkaligas must identify their religion as 'Hindu' and caste and sub-caste as just 'Vokkaliga' bearing code A-1541. 

"Sub-caste should be mentioned only if it is absolutely necessary. It can be mentioned, for example, if a microscopic community with a small population wants to retain its identity," Nirmalanandanatha Swami, the pontiff of the Adichunchunagiri Mutt, said. 

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, Union Ministers H D Kumaraswamy, Shobha Karandlaje, Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka and others attended the meeting hosted by the Adichunchunagiri Mutt. 

It is said that Shivakumar assured leaders that the community's interests will be protected.

While the survey is scheduled to start from September 22 and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has ruled out postponement, the pontiff said the exercise should not start until after "anomalies" are addressed. 

"Caste names like 'Vokkaliga Christian', 'Brahmana Christian', 'Lingayat Christian'...even the Jain religion have been clubbed with our community," Nirmalanandanatha Swami said, referring to the list of castes prepared by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes. "If we keep (adding such nomenclatures), it is possible that some people will say they are 'Muslim Vokkaliga' or a 'Hindu-Muslim' or a 'Hindu-Christian'. This leads to chaos and ought to be taken back," the pontiff said. 

The Vokkaliga leaders also asked the government to extend the survey in view of Navaratri. "In the 15-day survey period, 10 days are Navaratri. Doing the survey then will not yield the desired results," the pontiff said, adding that families have planned holidays. 

Speaking to reporters, Ashoka said the Vokkaliga community would "take to the streets" if the government does not withdraw contentious nomenclatures. "We also don't want the community to get divided into multiple sub-castes," he said. 

Kumaraswamy quipped that the upcoming survey's report "may be worse than" the 2015 one. "All the pros and cons were discussed in the meeting. Shivakumar has taken responsibility for resolving all the issues," he said. 

Kumaraswamy said Vokkaligas had suffered the most in terms of losing land. "Over the last 30 years, in the name of Bengaluru's development, how much agricultural land has been used? A major portion of this land was lost by the Vokkaliga community," he said.