Karnataka: Diddalli on fire, tribals warn of nude protest

Mysuru: It has been four months since a tribal woman, Muththamma, took out a naked march protesting  against the evacuation of tribals  from the reserve forests of Diddalli in Kodagu district. Although a video of the nude protest went viral on social media, it has not resolved anything.

The deadlock continues as tribals camping in Diddalli are adamant on receiving land for cultivation in compensation for their eviction and are unwilling to accept the sites identified by the Kodagu district administration for them.  

Muththamma, who is also a tribal leader, complains that the  district administration has stopped providing them food for a while now and warns of  holding a second  round of protests at the spot from where they were evicted in Diddalli. She also talks of leading another naked march soon to drive home the tribals' demands.

Kodagu Deputy Commissioner, Richard Vincent D Souza, when contacted, said that although land had been identified and 528 sites formed in Kedamballuru near Virajpet, and Basavanahalli and Madlapura near Kushalnagar,  the tribals were demanding  sites and land for cultivation in Diddalli.

"Revenue Minister,  Kagodu Thimmappa has visited the tribals and  the land identified by the district administration for their sites. We have not received any further orders in this regard," the deputy commissioner added.

"The land identified for sites by the government is not convenient for us. We have school and healthcare facilities in Diddalli. And it is not possible  to take up jobs at nearby plantations. We want the government to give us sites and land for farming here and also identify a place where we can receive both.  We are ready to move," Muththamma said.

Currently there are 612 families living in line houses from different plantations in Kodagu, according to her.