Madikeri: Urging the Government to facilitate the Kodava Land Geo-Political Autonomy under Articles 244, 371 (read with 6th & 8th Schedule of the Constitution) and also Scheduled Tribe (ST) tag to Kodava tribe among various other demands, Codava National Council (CNC) President N.U. Nachappa and the other Council members staged a stir in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s Office in the town yesterday.

The Government must consider Kodavas as a Scheduled Tribe community and must officially provide the ST tag at the earliest. Under the Constitution Act 25 and 26 the Kodava Gun Rights should be continued without any time restriction and also Kodava language should be incorporated in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.

The Kodava cultural heritage should be included in the Intangible Cultural Heritage list of UNESCO, the members demanded.

“The Kodava community has its origin only in Kodagu and the people are being neglected. If this continues, all the history and culture of the community will disappear without any trace. The CNC from the past few years are fighting for the rights of the whole community,” they said and submitted a memorandum seeking to fulfilment of their demands.

Council members B. Savitha Girish, P. Swathi Kalappa, C.  Jyothi Nanaiah, Ltn. Col. B.M. Parvathi, K. Prakash, B. Chippanna, P. Kalappa, A. Lokesh, A. Girish, M. Manoj and others were present.