WhatsApp Groups are bursting with messages bordering on being categorized as scandalous. People appear to be sincerely harbouring all sorts of ideas in their heads (not always with conviction or sufficient thought) – what emerges from mouths is conditioned by the environment. What they say to a friend may be quite different from what Is said before his wife and children!
To quote Phil Chetwynd from the Deccan Herald: The fabric of societies is being torn apart by what in many cases are deliberate and calculated campaigns to undermine facts, the bedrock of our shared reality. There is no need to prove things are untrue; you only need to relentlessly smear, sow doubt, and float conspiracies. Often social media algorithms will do the rest….
https://www.deccanherald.com/amp/story/opinion/journalism-under-siege-3740657
Debates are a healthy indulgence, but arguments and accusations are totally unwarranted. The disinfo perpetuates itself. CLN believes in the integrity and sincerity with which Kodavaame Balo Nadp was conducted. It was spotlessly apolitical and a soul stirring success as a peaceful, graceful and unifying coming together of Kodavas of all age groups, from across the country. Leaders set the tone and guide the moral stance of large swathes of our people.
CLN has always featured articles that have different viewpoints. Mamatha Subbaiah’s heartfelt article is a rejoinder to what was published last week.
– CLN Newsdesk
The caste survey has forced Kodavas to confront an identity crisis that a checkbox cannot capture.
© Images in this post are copyright protected and will require permission before use.
I am a proud Kodavathi, born in the land of generals and warriors, where courage, loyalty and honour run in our veins. I grew up worshipping my ancestors, who worshipped Botekara Aiyappa and his abode – the Devakadus and have passed down customs and traditions that are unmistakably unique to our community. Our faith is ours – passed down through generations by our ancestors – lived, breathed, and cherished every day. Traditions and customs that have existed for over 3,000 years.
Yet today, the caste survey compels me to ask: Who am I? What should I write? “Hindu”? “Kodava”? “Sanatana Dharma”?
None of these options feels right. I feel that marking “Hindu” risks erasing our distinct religious and cultural traditions and us ending up being a part of the broader hindu “Vedic Culture”. To mark “Kodava” may be misunderstood as merely a community label. To mark “Sanatana Dharma” reduces us to a vast category in which we vanish altogether.
This confusion is not mine alone. Within Kodagu, voices are sharply divided. Some call for a boycott, arguing it is better to remain uncounted than to be miscounted. Others insist compliance is necessary, warning that we risk losing recognition if we refuse. One group of leaders urges that Kodavas should mark “Kodava” under caste, language, and religion.
Another group argues that while caste and language may be Kodava, religion must be recorded as “Hindu.” And to complicate matters further, even the question of whether we qualify as a minority remains unresolved.
As an ordinary Kodavathi, a daughter of Kodagu with faith and culture deeply embedded in my heart, I find myself bewildered. Which choice safeguards my identity?
Which answer honours the memory of my ancestors and the land of warriors they bequeathed to us?
The digital age has only worsened this dilemma. Social media has turned the survey into a battlefield, where WhatsApp forwards, viral posts, and political propaganda distort facts and figures. Ordinary people like me are left to navigate a storm of misinformation, while our leaders pull us in different directions.
What should have been an exercise to celebrate diversity has instead become a source of division and doubt. Our proud history, our living faith, and the sacrifices of our forebears are all reduced to a single checkbox.
I must therefore ask the Government: why must Kodavas and Kodavathis like me be forced into categories that erase our identity? Why must ordinary women and men carry the burden of explaining centuries-old traditions when all we seek is to live by them in peace?
Until clarity emerges, this caste survey will remain not a tool of recognition, but a symbol of confusion and erasure. A reminder of how a proud community with a rich history and their own unique customs and traditions, which cannot be called Vedic- can be lost in the narrow confines of a checkbox while its people struggle to follow the scattered voices of their own leaders.
Beautifully expressed by the on going dilemma of caste survey. Her articles are always an absolute delight to read It,s not only well written but also thought provoking and deeply in sight ful, reflecting true journalistic brilliance.
There’s so much that’s being written and circulated about Religion, Caste, Census by all and sundry with a very authoritative tone. First and foremost it is imperative for us to gather micro details about actual population count by family (there are a few who claim they have it by Okka) – but far more important is the associated soft data on economic well-being, education, sources of income, demographics by village, crops grown, children and so on.
Simultaneously there is an urgent need to have a community wide consensus on what is necessary to retain the integrity of what the District needs in terms of identity, opportunities and the implications of uncontrolled tourism.
Of the many organisations that claim such work, the one that stands out is Jabhoomi who relentlessly undertake grassroots level work involving the womenfolk at the villages and re-establishing a modified version of Thakkamme leading to the resurrection of an effective and restructured Akhila Kodava Samaja, devoid of Permanent Committee Members. Representatives of Community Service based organisations like AKS, Kodava Samajas, CWS, CEF, etc should set aside their political leanings and work for the Community and not their Party High Commands.
The state has no business to know what religion I follow. My faith, or lack of any, is my private affair residing at home and in my head and heart. For community involvement and customs I will practice what my parents and elders established and passed on.
FACT: Kodavas ceased to be a census category subsequent to the 1931 census and got merged in the general all-inclusive and catch-all category of Hindus from the 1941 census onwards. The ostensible reason for merging and including certain groups with Hindus, as has been done to the Kodavas, has been that from 1941 caste census was given up. But this argument, that of a group of people belonging to a caste, does not, in any way, apply to the Kodavas; ever since the very first census of 1871-2 the Kodavas were an independent and distinct ethnic group and were enumerated as such.
Instead of getting swayed by Party Politics, as has become the wont with just about everything in Kodagu, addressing the FACT about being subsumed into a majority category is the debate. Without specific data about our community keeps us guessing about much needed statistical data to take the right action to preserve Kodagu’s identity. For example – we should be asking how much revenue is the District generating for the State and Centre and what proportion is being spent within the district for development and so on? Pre 1956, Coorg was considered a MODEL STATE in terms of prosperity, education, financial management (always a surplus), zero corruption and so on.
Please proactively use this debate and engage with District Administration and State Government in a productive manner.
Thank you for almost reproducing what I have said in my article published by CLN on 9 September.
More than a Census, this is an enumeration exercise. The real intent of the State Government is anybody’s guess and the integrity of the data is to be seen – whenever it gets done. However it was amusing to see the cameo performances of a wide array of individuals, self-proclaimed experts, leaders on whether Kodavas are Hindus or not!
Ms Mamatha’s down to earth response is worthy of a read and so also the introduction by CLN news desk. At the end of the day, as a well known/meaning anthropologist Dr M A Kalam remarked – While we know that Kodavas exist as an independent group and self-identify themselves as Kodavas or Coorgs, we have just no precise idea as to their numbers, the average household size, the types of households they have, the sex ratio, their population in different age-cohorts, or the birth rate/fertility among them. This has been such a huge loss to the community! So, what we have now is guesstimates and speculations as regards various aspects concerning the Kodavas.
Whether the Government completes this exercise or not, all minority communities need to collate this data if they want chart a course of action to maintain their unique identities that have been passed down from Millenia. The Gejje Thand image is a great reminder of who we are and what we represent.
Now for the simple caste survey why are we again bringing in politics. Personally for me WEDDINGS, FUNERALS AND RELIGIOUS PRACTICES ARE VERY PRIVATE ISSUES AND SHOULD NEVER BE ENFORCED and BEST LEFT TO INDIVIDUALS