MYSURU, 25 JULY 

Senior Advocate R Arunkumar, head of the Midaiga Meesalathi Horata Samithi, has labelled the Congress-led State government as the "number one enemy of the Madiga community" for its refusal to provide internal reservations. During a press conference on Friday, he accused the State's Social Welfare Minister, Mahadevappa, of being anti-Madiga for opposing these reservations. Arunkumar pointed out that the Supreme Court had previously supported the provision of internal reservations for Madigas in a landmark ruling on 1 August last year; however, the state government has yet to act on this directive.

The advocate expressed concerns about Justice Nagmohan Das's internal reservation commission, which has delayed submitting its caste census findings and reports to the state government. The Madiga community is planning a significant statewide protest on 1 August if the state government fails to accept the report by 31 July. Bhaskar Prasad, chief of the Samithi, announced plans for a mock funeral and bald head protest against the government’s neglect of internal reservations for the Madiga community, which he claims has been exploited under the existing reservation system.