'Codavas deserve autonomous status'

The Codavas of Coorg have been asking for an autonomous territory under the 6th schedule of the Constitution for the last one decade and more.

They have organized rallies, torchlight programmes, satyagrahas, seminars and human chains across Kodagu district to press for their demands. The city of Bangalore has seen their protests as well. In the last three years, the group has held rallies at New Delhi on November ; had also protested against the delay in granting the autonomous status at the Parliament street in New Delhi. Besides meeting Sonia Gandhi last year, they have met the President of the country during the recent protests. Their contention has been that they are a different and unique people. They constitute a nation and they must be recognised as one. Without the conferment of an autonomous territory, they would not be able to develop their language and culture and pass on what is theirs now to the next generation.

Do the Codavas make a nation? To answer the question one must be clear what constitutes a nation. A nation is a community of people banded together with a common culture. The Codavas do share a common language, ethnicity, community practices, heritage, history, territory and a vision for life along with a common myth of origins and descent. The Codavas are a cultural-political community that is conscious of its coherence, unity and particular interests. In recent years more and more Codavas have been experiencing an attack on their identity by inter-community marriages, the outsiders taking over land in their original homeland and many of them migrating to the cities. With the increasing insecurity, the demand for an autonomous region has been gaining ground.

Self-contained code

Can the Codavas come under the 6th schedule of the Constitution? It is the self-contained code for the governance of the tribal areas. When the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi got the amendment for empowerment of Panchayat Raj Institutions passed in 1992 the tribal areas referred in Clause 2 of Article 244 were expressly left out of Article 243, contained in Part IX of the Constitution. The reason of exclusion was that communities have their own self-rule laws in tribal belts according to which traditional communities are governed to preserve and protect  schedule of the Constitution?

 Given the uniqueness of the Codava people and the role elders play in community-building, they can be included in the 6th schedule. Codavas claim that their nationality was born and bloomed within the area of 45 ancient traditional Codava Naads, i.e from Marenaad to Surlabbi Naad,from Pathkatt Naad to Beng Naad, from Paadi Naad to Thoda Naad, from Kuth Naad to Ballath Naad from Berali Naad to Kadiyath Naad from Anjigeri Naad to Muth Naad, from Poramale Naad to Nelaji Naad, from Bottiyath Naad to kangalath Naad and others.

These areas are named as Codava Land. It is their traditional land. Why an Autonomous region?  It is because they were not treated as a distinct group and not provided with a region of their own in spite living in an autonomous region that their identity has been robbed and they have been assimilated and made to take on practices of the dominant Hindu culture. They claim that they are culturally, linguistically, ethnically, numerically, racially and religiously a minority group. Attempts have been made in the past to include them in the Hindu-fold. They assert that they are not Hindus but Kodavas, a minority with their own religious practices, cultural heritage and ways of living. By the grant of an autonomous status in accordance with the 6th schedule they would be able to revive and renew their identity as Codavas.

 Nation-building is a long-term process. The state will have to learn to accept unique ethnic groups with their own social institutions existent in society and provide legitimacy to them. This is no easy. States do not have a culture of respect for indigenous and unique communities.

The Codavas have contributed to the Indian state by their presence in the armed forces, sports and games and by being present in every sector of the economy and society. Conferring an autonomous status for their region would go a long way in linking them to shared values and inclusive notions of citizenship. Legitimacy and nationhood require that central institutions engage with local, community and customary governance. This can give people a stronger connection to the state and a greater sense of belonging.