In a bid to exert pressure on both the State and Union governments to accord Scheduled Tribe (ST) tag to the Kuruba community, a congregation of religious heads and Kuruba leaders from all parties on Sunday resolved to intensify the fight for ST tag for Kurubas by announcing a road map for the movement that includes a padayatra, taking a delegation to Delhi, and a massive rally over the next few months.
While it was decided that regional conventions would be held in Belagavi, Mysuru, Bengaluru, and Kalaburgi on various dates from November 2020 to January 2021, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K.S. Eshwarappa will lead a delegation to Delhi to meet the Central leaders. The four seers of the Kuruba community will launch a padayatra from Kaginele on January 15, 2021, and it will culminate in Bengaluru on February 7, where a massive rally will be organised, Kaginele Seer Sri Niranjananada Swami announced.
“The struggle will continue till Kurubas get ST tag. Despite a demand for ST tag since 1935, it has so far not bore fruit. I will fight by approaching Home Minister Amit Shah and other Union Ministers to secure the ST tag,” Mr. Eshwarappa, who is spearheading the current movement, said at the event at Palace Grounds here.
Meanwhile, MLC N. Nagaraj (MTB), who was among the 17 Congress and JD(S) legislators who resigned to cause the fall of the H.D. Kumaraswamy government last year, said it was because of the sacrifice of Kuruba legislators, including him, A.H. Vishwanath, Byrathi Basavaraj, and R. Shankar, that the BJP government could be formed and B.S. Yediyurappa could become Chief Minister. “Because of the sacrifice, the demand for ST tag of Kurubas should be considered,” he said.
Deputy leader of JD(S) Legislature Party Bandeppa Kashempur said that the Gonds, Jenu Kuruba, and Kadu Kurubas were getting the ST tag in a few districts, while the larger Kuruba population in the State had been denied this. There is no political agenda behind this demand, he said.
