By P.T. Bopanna
Has Bangalore Kodava Samaja exceeded its limit in submitting a memorandum to chief minister Siddaramaiah to give Cabinet berth to Virajpet MLA A.S. Ponnanna?
Kodava Samajas across Karnataka and other major cities of India and abroad are socio-cultural organisations to safeguard the interest of the Kodavas (Coorgs) hailing from Kodagu (Coorg) district in Karnataka.
Though Kodava Samajas are supposed to safeguard and promote the interests of the Kodava community, in the recent years the Samajas have become hotbeds of politics.
The worst form of politics occurred in the run up to the last Lok Sabha elections when the president of Mysuru Kodava Samaja addressed a news conference to urge the BJP high command not to deny the party ticket to sitting MP Prathap Simha.
Though traditionally, the century-old Bangalore Kodava Samaja had kept politics at arm’s length, the situation started changing in recent years, especially after money power started playing a role in the election of office-bearers.
In the circumstances, the Bangalore Kodava Samaja has exceeded its brief in submitting a memorandum to the chief minister to include Ponnanna in the ministry. What was shocking was the presence of Ponnanna himself in the Kodava Samaja delegation to the chief minister as this was ethically wrong on the part of the Virajpet MLA.
Though Ponnanna, who already holds cabinet rank as legal advisor to chief minister, deserves to be included in the ministry, he should have kept away from the delegation in the interest of propriety.
The Bangalore Kodava Samaja has been in the news in recent years for wrong reasons.
A few years ago, the office-bearers of the Samaja held a ‘homa’ in the premises of the Kodava Samaja located at Vasanthanagar by involving Brahmin priests. Though bracketed under Hindu religion for official purposes, the Kodavas practice tribal faith which does not involve any Vedic practices like ‘homa’.
Brahmin priests have no role in any of the ceremonies related to birth, marriage and death in the Kodava community. It is the Kodava elders who conduct the rituals. Kodavas worship the elements of nature.
In the circumstances, the holding of several homas on the day of the Kaveri Sankramana, celebrated on October 18 to mark the birth of river Cauvery, had vitiated the significance of the Sankramana festival.
It is time the Kodava Samajas play the role of guardian of Kodava culture and to stay away from matters involving politics.