Bengaluru, Feb. 23 -- With several communities up in arms demanding a fresh look at the caste-based reservation list, Karnataka is witnessing a cacophony of unprecedented proportion with religio-political undertone. Panchamsalis, a sub-caste group within the dominant Lingayath community, held a massive meeting in Bengaluru on February 21 (Sunday) demanding that the community be moved from 3A to 2A category within the reservation matrix. On February 6, the leaders of the Kuruba community led apadayatravoicing their demand to shift them from 2A to Scheduled Tribes (STs) category.

To understand the complex matrix, one has to go back far into history of the State. Reservations were introduced in the State services as early as 1918 while the ...