BENGALURU: South Karnataka has, for most time, been civilised with respect to inter-caste relations, according to Prof James Manor, Emeritus Professor of Commonwealth Studies.
Manor, who has studied Karnataka extensively for 47 years, said that those districts which were part of the princely state of Mysore such as Shivamogga, Chitradurga and other districts in South Karnataka are good with inter-caste relationships.
He, however, said these landscapes were not immune to caste-based violence. “In Chamarajanagar, there was an incident where dalit boys put their feet up on a row of chairs where Lingayat girls were seated. This led to communal tension and a lot of lives were lost,” he said.
Even as Mysuru district is known for maintaining peace, he said that his research found that the situation was not so in Mandya district.
Citing a possible reason for the reduced communal tension in Southern Karnataka districts, Manor said that the state had the lowest landlesness in British India. “Even dalits owned land. They also got jobs when Maharajas were ruling this part of the country,” he said.
He added that the ‘Gau Rakshak’ movement is not strong in South India, which is also contributing to less communal tension.