"India can't be true democracy if AHINDA are not heard": Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 16 (ANI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday asserted that India cant remain a true democracy if the minorities and other marginalised communities, including Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are not heard.

India cannot be a true democracy if OBCs, SCs, STs, and minorities -- the AHINDA communities -- are merely counted but not heard, Siddaramaiah said while addressing the AICC OBC council meet here, adding, This is not just a fight for reservation. It is a fight for dignity, recognition, and real power for those historically denied it.

AHINDA is the Kannada acronym for Alpasankhyataru, Hindulidavaru, and Dalitaru (minorities, OBCs, SCs).

Apprising the gathering about Karnataka fight for social justice, the CM mentioned reports presented by various committees, including the Kantharaj Committee in 2015, that surveyed 1.3 crore households. However, he said that the BJP withheld the report for four years.

Karnataka has been a pioneer in the fight for social justice: Miller Committee in 1918, 75 per cent reservation in 1921, Havanur Commission (1975) laid the scientific foundation for backward class upliftment, OBC State Act in 1995, Kantharaj Commission in 2015, which surveyed 1.3 crore households. But BJP blocked or delayed every progressive step -- including withholding the Kantharaj report for 4 years, Siddaramaiah added.

He further highlighted the achievements of Congress on this issue at the national level, including the passage of the National Commission for Backward Classes Act of 1993, which he alleged was weakened by the BJP.

Talking about the Triple test, which the Karnataka CM said was designed to protect rights and not block them, Siddaramaiah said, BJP used it as an excuse to stall OBC reservations in local bodies -- even when Congress had already conducted the required surveys in Karnataka.

Crediting OBCs for nation building through labour, the Karnataka CM stated that OBCs comprise 50 per cent of India population, yet they receive only 22 per cent reservation in central government jobs.

In elite institutions, dropout rates are high. Privatisation and lateral entries bypass reservations. Agnipath gives OBC youth only 4 years, no long-term future, he said, adding, OBCs built this nation with their labour. But caste denied them learning, land, and leadership. It wasnt just exclusion -- it was erasure.

We speak of a level playing field in a society where the game was rigged at birth. What chance does a shepherd son or a weaver daughter have against someone born into generational privilege? Siddaramaiah asked.

He demanded that the caste census be a constitutional necessity while asserting proportional representation based on population.

Expand educational & economic support -- hostels, scholarships, skill centres, reservation in private sector, contracts, promotions. Build political consciousness among backward classes, the CM added.

Attacking the BJP and the Sangh Parivar, Siddaramaiah claimed that the BJP denies justice to the AHINDA while offering slogans like Sabka Saath-Sabka Vikas.

The Sangh Parivar has always been ideologically uncomfortable with reservations. They project token OBC faces, not to empower communities but to mask exclusion. Their discomfort is not political. It structural, he said. (ANI)

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