Bengaluru, Sep 16 Karnataka BJP leaders on Tuesday submitted a memorandum to Governor Thawarchand Gehlot, demanding the removal of Christian sub-castes from the draft caste list.
The Karnataka BJP organised a roundtable conference under the banner of the Social Justice Awareness Forum and passed seven major resolutions against the Socio-Economic and Academic Survey, popularly known as the caste census.
The delegation, led by BJP MP Yaduveer Wadiyar and other prominent leaders, met Governor Gehlot at his office and handed over the memorandum.
The main resolutions passed in the meeting include the immediate withdrawal of the sub-caste codes assigned to those who have converted. The 47 Christian sub-caste titles associated with Hindu communities - such as Lingayat Christian, Vishwakarma Christian, Devanga Christian, Kuruba Christian, and others - should be immediately removed.
The meeting also agreed that including these 47 Christian sub-caste titles would undermine the existing reservation system. It further asserted that the act is unconstitutional and that the government-sponsored survey would encourage religious conversions.
The delegation urged the government not to conduct the caste census in haste and suggested that it could be conducted in the summer. The
It also demanded that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah explicitly declare that those who have converted to Christianity would not be eligible for reservation benefits.
Speaking to mediapersons after meeting the Governor, Wadiyar said, "It is not correct to include several castes under Christians in the Social, Economic, and Educational Survey. This will lead to confusion."
Wadiyar said that 46 castes, including Vokkaliga Christian and Brahmin Christian, have been included under Christians. He emphasised that there was no necessity for this and added that this would encourage religious conversions.
He also said that the Governor informed them that the matter would be reviewed and appropriate action would be taken.
The BJP leader further said that if the government does not take action to remove invalid castes during the survey, they would be compelled to approach the court and also launch an agitation.
The roundtable conference was attended by former Chief Ministers B.S. Yediyurappa, Jagadish Shettar, Basavaraj Bommai, Union Minister V. Somanna, and prominent leaders such as Prabhakar Kore and Vijay Sankeshwar, along with key leaders of the Veerashaiva Lingayat community.
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