The Kapu Community Quota Stir

Recently, the members of the Kapu community launched an agitation demanding the status of Other Backward Class (OBC). The agitation turned violent, which led to a large scale damage to the public property.

Who are Kapus and what are their demands?

Kapus are predominantly an agrarian community primarily in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. They are spread predominantly in the coastal districts, North Telangana and Rayalseema regions and particularly in the East Godavari and West Godavari districts. Also, there presence is observed in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and even in Sri Lanka.

Apart from agriculture, they work in rice mills, indulge in trade and business and constitutes as a major work force in the state. According to various estimates, the Kapu community comprises nearly 26-27% of Andhra Pradesh.

Telega, Balija, Ontari, Munnuru kapu, Turpu kapu are the sub-castes of the Kapu community. In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Kapus are regarded as forward castes along with Balijas and Telegas in contrast to the subcastes such as Munnuru Kapus, Turpu Kapus etc. which are considered as Other Backward Castes (OBCs).

The prominent members of the kapu community include actor turned politician K Chiranjeevi and AP Deputy CM Nimmakayala Chinarajappa.

Politics in the Andhra Pradesh region is dominated by Kammas and Reddys. Both these predominantly agriculture based castes managed to move ahead in education and secured highly placed jobs. The Kapus were left behind as they took to education lately. Though, Kapus are politically influential community in coastal districts, the politics in the state as a whole is a play between Reddys and Kammas with the Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) representing Reddy and Kamma castes respectively.

Demands of the community

The Kapu community demands for an immediate inclusion of their community as a Backward Class. Kapu Aaikya Garjana meet (Unity meet) was organised on 31 January, 2016 to press for their demands and saw members of the Kapu community assembling on large scale under the leadership of Mudragada Padmanabham. Here, we note that the Kapus were classified as a Backward Class until 1960, when they were started to be considered as a forward caste. The political parties like the Indian National Congress and YSR congress have supported the Kapus on their demands. This is not the first instance the community is seeking quota but their demand was a long standing one. According to the Kapus, they were left behind socially and economically after the rise of the Kammas and Reddys. This imbalance according to them is adversely affecting them, which can be set right only if they are provided with the necessary reservation.

What were their actions in the past to get reservations?

The demand of the community to include them in the backward classes dates back to 1990s. The Kapu leader Mudragada Padmanabham who served as a minister in the then Congress led government quit his ministerial position demanding reservation for Kapus. The then government issued an order for including the community under backward classes. But the High Court struck down the order citing the lack of rationale and justification for inclusion.

What is the reason for Kapu community’s sudden large scale agitation?

The Kapu community was promised reservation by political parties over a period of time. In 2014, general elections the TDP-BJP combine promised to provide reservation to the community, if voted to power. The TDP went a step ahead and provided this in its election manifesto. It is believed that the Kapus had voted overwhelmingly for BJP-TDP combine. But, after the elections the confidence of the community about their possibility of getting reservation got minimal. So, Kapu Aaikya Garjana meet was organised and the long pending grievance of the community manifested in to a violent agitation.

What are the methods employed by the kapus for pressing their demands?

Agitation marked by violence

Within fifteen minutes furious speech by the Kapu leader Padmanabham, Kapu agitation in Tuni in East Godavari district turned violent leading to a large scale destruction of public property and left a number of police and railway personnel injured. Ratnachal express was completely burnt down. A call was also made to block the highways and rail routes.

Hunger strike

Mudragada Padmanabham, who is a Kapu community leader and main organizer for Kapu Aikya Garjana went on an indefinite hunger strike along with his wife.

Why have they called off their stir so abruptly?

The organizers of the agitation did not expect the things to turn the way it did. With the agiatation turning violent, the Kapu leader Mudragadda Padmanabham called off the agitation and requested Kapus not to protest anymore.

What caused the rise of caste politics in Andhra Pradesh?

Caste has always been a major determinant in the politics of Andhra Pradesh. It is believed that the caste politics attained prominence with the rise of the Telugu Desam Party in 1983 under NT Rama Rao. The encouragement of various political parties made caste gain prominence. It is a well established fact that the candidates for the elections are chosen in such a way that the prominent community in each constituency is pleased.  The non-Brahmin movement also gradually sidelined Brahmins and led to the rise of non Brahmins to power. In Andhra Pradesh, it led to the rise of agrarian castes such as Reddys, kammas etc. to gain prominence. But similar castes like Kapus were left out from gaining benefits of such transformation. The quest of each caste to rule and grab power has led to the rise of the caste politics and also has influenced the voters to think on caste lines.

What was the government’s reaction to the agitation?

The state government has reiterated its promise to include Kapus in the Backward classes list and to this effect announced the formation of a cabinet sub-committee to recommend political reservations for Kapu community.  The six-member cabinet sub-committee is mandated to decide the quantum of political reservation for the Kapus.

The state government has already constituted Andhra Pradesh State Kapu Welfare and Development Corporation Limited and had allotted an amount of Rs 100 crore for the financial year 2015-16 for providing financial assistance of up to Rs 2 Lakh for the beneficiaries identified. The government had also already appointed a commission led by Justice Manjunath to study and submit its recommendations on reservations to Kapus including its sub castes such as Balija, Ontari, Kapu and Munnur Kapu.

Way forward

In the light of demands by various castes such as Patels, Jats, and now the Kapus, a dedicated study has to be made analyzing the relationship between the reservation, growth and development. Based on the study, the reservation policy has to be revamped. Reservation pleas without proper justification and rationale should not be accommodated. Secondly, the violent agitators who create wide scale damage to the public property should be held accountable, as it has the potential to create lawlessness and set a bad precedent.