Codava Council renews push for official recognition of Kodava Takk

The Codava National Council (CNC) has sharpened its long-standing campaign to secure official language status for Kodava Takk, the native tongue of the Kodava people, placing it on an equal footing with Tulu in Karnataka.

In a strongly worded statement, CNC emphasised that safeguarding indigenous languages strengthens national unity rather than weakening it. Giving preference to dominant languages while side-lining smaller native ones, the Council argued, harms cultural harmony and shared progress.

“Kodava Takk, spoken by a unique, mono-ethnic, animistic warrior community, deserves the same constitutional protection and prominence as other regional languages,” the Council stated.

The CNC mentioned that linguists, including 19th-century scholar Bishop Robert Caldwell, have long recognised Kodava Takk as an ancient, independent member of the Dravidian family with roots stretching back roughly 4,500 years.

In 2003, the high-level committee chaired by Pandit Dr. Sitakant Mahapatra, formed under the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, recommended adding Kodava Takk to the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution along with 37 other languages.

This recommendation gained further momentum when senior parliamentarian B K Hariprasad introduced a private member’s bill in 2016–17 seeking inclusion of both Kodava Takk and Tulu in the Eighth Schedule. During the debate, then Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju reportedly assured Parliament that the government would incorporate all 38 languages named by the Mahapatra committee.

The Karnataka government, more recently, has initiated proposals to recommend Kodava Takk, Tulu, and Banjara for Eighth Schedule inclusion, a move CNC welcomed as encouraging. In the recently concluded assembly session, legislators from the Tulu-speaking coastal belt, notably Puttur MLA Ashok Rai, pressed for official status for Tulu. Minister for Kannada and Culture Shivaraj Tangadagi responded positively in the House. CNC expressed appreciation but insisted the same level of urgency and political will must extend to Kodava Takk.

The council pointed to clear precedents. In November 2018, the H D Kumaraswamy government declared Konkani a state minority language; in 1994, the Veerappa Moily administration set up academies to promote Kodava, Tulu, and Konkani; and in 1992, under P V Narasimha Rao’s central government, Konkani was added to the Eighth Schedule nationally and later became Goa’s official language.

Despite these examples, CNC noted that Tulu enjoys representation in the Karnataka and Maharashtra assemblies as well as Parliament, while Kodava representation remains limited in the state legislature and absent nationally. The Kodava community, though small in number, once governed an independent, economically self-reliant “C” state until its merger with Mysore (now Karnataka) in 1956 under the States Reorganisation Act.

The Supreme Court’s December 2023 constitution bench ruling on Jammu & Kashmir’s special status referenced Kodagu’s historical economic self-sufficiency as a relevant example. CNC maintained that post-merger policies have gradually marginalised Kodava aspirations through assimilation measures, amounting to linguistic suppression.

The council drew a cautionary parallel to Sri Lanka’s 1956 “Sinhala Only Act,” which declared Sinhala the sole official language, side-lining Tamil speakers and fuelling ethnic conflict. Opposition leader Dr. Colvin R. de Silva famously warned: “Do we want a free Ceylon or two Ceylons? One language, two nations; two languages, one nation.” CNC cautioned that similar majoritarian approaches in Karnataka could endanger smaller linguistic communities like the Kodavas.

As per the CNC, UNESCO classified Kodava Takk as critically endangered in 2009, listing it among roughly 180 threatened indigenous languages worldwide. For the past 36 years, CNC has pursued recognition through peaceful, persistent advocacy.

The letter, signed by N U Nachappa Codava, and Advocate and the Chairman of Codava National Council, concluded with an urgent appeal to the President of India, Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly R Ashok, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, Chief Minister’s Legal Advisor A S Ponnanna, former Opposition Leader B K Hariprasad, and Madikeri MLA Mantar Gowda to take decisive steps to protect and promote Kodava Takk as an official

state language.