Madiker: The exclusive right granted to Kodavas to own a gun since generations must be safeguarded carefully, said Advocate Palecanda S. Subiah. He was speaking at an event to release his book ‘The Gallant Kodava and His Gun’ in Madikeri yesterday.

The event was jointly organised by United Kodava Organisation (UKO) and Kodava Voggat, Mysuru, at Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa College Seminar Hall in Madikeri. Palecanda Subiah is a practicing advocate and is considered to be an authority with respect to Kodava gun and Jamma tenure issues.

“The right to own a gun granted to Kodava community is different from ‘Jamma’ gun rights. While Kodavas have obtained the right and this has passed on from generations, the rights of ‘Jamma’ land holders to possess a gun was added later,” he said.

“As Kodavas had gun exemption, the Maharajas too had the right to own different weapons. But the privilege of the Maharajas was taken away in 1971 by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi,” Subiah said and asked Kodavas to use their rights cautiously.

British Chief Commissioner General Mark Cubbon had in his order provided Kodavas to own guns and this was limited to Kodava community. “The exemption of owning a gun was introduced in 1963. In 1962, attempts were made to remove the exclusive privilege under the 1959 Arms Act. At that time, a delegation was taken to the Centre to impress upon the Government not to remove the rights,” he said and added that from then onwards Kodavas have been enjoying   the privilege.

Continuing, Subiah opined that most of the Deputy Commissioners (who have the authority to issue gun licence) who come to Kodagu have no knowledge about the gun privilege of Kodavas. “The role of Member of Parliament who represents Kodagu is crucial here,” he said.

Responding to Subiah’s address, Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha, who released the book ‘The Gallant Kodava and His Gun’ said that he fully understood the rights of Kodava community that have been passed on from generations and will do his best to safeguard the same. “I had fully backed the community when their interests had to be safeguarded,” he said.

Speaking as the Chief Guest, Supreme Court Advocate Palachanda Brijesh Kalappa said that it was a matter of pride that among the 125 crore population in India and among 3,000 castes and 25,000 sub-castes, only Kodavas had the right to own a gun. “It is our duty to safeguard the right and pass it on to the next generation,” he said.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Satish Kumar, UKO Convener Kokkalemada Manju Chinnappa and others were present. One of the event organisers Jammada Ganesh Aiyanna spoke about the book and proposed a vote of thanks.