Kapu community chief and Seasoned warrior Mudragada Padmanabam has started his Hunger strike along with his wife in his home at Kirlampudi village of East Godavari district, today.

As said before, Mudragada, the one name that is heard big in Kapus battle has sat for the hunger strike, seeking the implementation of his community welfare related demands which are part of poll promises of TDP  government in Andhra Pradesh. He said that, he will opt to die than to surrender.

Mudragada further said that, even if he is arrested, he will continue the fast unto death in the prison, the Precondition being implementation of few promises etched in the election manifesto of TDP.

The do or die attitude of this old generation politician is now getting support from the Global Kapu community.

Kapu  community which is globally spread with more than three crores of population and more than half of them living in Andhra Pradesh in pathetic conditions is up in arms against the step motherly attitude of successive regimes. The simmering anger and anguish reflected in a recent gathering of more than a million Kapu activists near Mudragada’s village, showing their solidarity.

Reducing their vulnerability will strengthen the state...but will the government, which is under the spell of a greedy minority community, heed to this genuine agony or some blood would spill in the painful process due to Machiavellian politics is the yet to be unanswered question. Let us hope sanity prevails and major political parties and all stakeholders play their role in a decent and Democratic manner....

Though most of the people in Kapu community are even in a position to meet the small needs of life, they continued to adjust to the lifestyle and pretended that, they are well, unwilling to show empty hands to the society.

But as the situation is getting worsened day by day, they had no other option other than coming forward and protest for their rights, promised by the AP government already. 

Kapus row: What is Naidu trying to do, what should he actually do?

It seems, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is trying to manipulate the situation with his decades of experience in playing the political strategies.

He said that, GO should be issued based on the perfect report, but not merely by an  electoral promise of providing reservations for Kapu.    

He even took out example of SC rejection of Jats' demand for reservation and opined that, Kapu and Balija on the basis of caste alone, cannot claim reservations.

The political analysts say that, Naidu wants Kapus to appreciate the fact that his government has appointed a commission to look into the issue as such a course is legally advisable. The mere issuance of GO may satisfy political anxieties, but may not be legally tenable.
 
Since state reservation already reached 50%, stating that backwardness is a manifestation caused by the presence of several independent circumstances, which may be social, cultural, economic, educational or even political, Supreme Court in the Jats case said, “The perception of a self-proclaimed socially backward class of citizens or even the perception of the “advanced classes” as to the social status of the “less fortunates” cannot continue to be a constitutionally permissible yardstick for determination of backwardness, both in the context of Articles 15 (4) and 16 (4) of the Constitution.”

So the issue of reservation GO should be included in 9th Schedule only.

Below is the Tamilnadu Example:

1989

Statewide Road Blockade Agitations were launched by Vanniar Sangam (Parent Body of Pattali Makkal Katchi) demanding 20% reservations in State Government and 2% reservations in Central Government exclusively for Vanniyar Caste.

DMK Government Split OBC reservations into 2 Parts with 30% for OBC and 20% for MBC. Separate Reservation of 1% introduced for Scheduled Tribes. Total Reservation percentage stood at 69%.

1992

Supreme Court, in Mandal Judgement, reiterated that reservation percentage cannot exceed 50% and "Creamy Layer" to be excluded from the reservation benefits.

1994

The court instructed Tamilnadu government to follow 50% reservations in the case filed by famous lawyer K. M. Vijayan on behalf of VOICE Consumer forum. Anandakrishnan, one of the members of Oversight committee, and then Anna University chairman announced that, 50% reservation will be followed.

69% Reservation was included in 9th Schedule.

But getting a report for any reservations, the Chairperson should have a clean image.

Present BC Chair Person for Kapu reservations K L Manjunath has a questionable background though!!!! Is this a camouflage?

Kapus inclusion disturbs benefits, current BCs get?

The government and even other opposition parties said to offer reservation to Kapus without disturbing the existing benefits, BCs are getting. In that order, the disturbance between Kapus and BCs would be inevitable, if the government links the reservation to job benefits.

Instead, it would be better, if the government concentrates more on providing the reservations to the students, like giving discounts in educational institutions, hostels etc. In this way, it does not disturb the current BCs and even Kapus would be benefited, without having the need to face any counter agitations from BCs.   

It should be seen, whether Mudragada’s indefinite strike could move the government and make a step forward and plant the smiles on the faces of decades of struggling Kapus.
 
By Phani Ch