Shantaram Budna Siddi is an Indian politician who is a nominated member of the

Karnataka Legislative Council The Karnataka Legislative Council is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of Karnataka state in South Western India. Karnataka is one of the six states in India, where the state legislature is bicameral, comprising two houses: the Leg ...

from the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

. A member of the Siddi Tribe, he is the first Indian legislator of

African descent Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in s ...

Early life

Born into a family with poor economic and social background, Shantaram belongs to the

Siddi The Siddi (), also known as the Sheedi, Sidi, or Siddhi, or Habshi are an ethnic group inhabiting India and Pakistan. They are primarily descended from the Bantu peoples of the Zanj coast in Southeast Africa and Ethiopia, most whom arrived to ...

tribal community which traces its origin to the

Bantu peoples The Bantu peoples, or Bantu, are an ethnolinguistic grouping of approximately 400 distinct ethnic groups who speak Bantu languages. They are native to 24 countries spread over a vast area from Central Africa to Southeast Africa and into Southern A ...

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

. He is from the Hitlalli village of

Yellapur Yellapura is a town in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, India.It is a major trading centre for Arecanut, which is the primary crop grown in the villages surrounding the town. Approximately 90% of the population of Yellapura are farmers ...

taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

Uttara Kannada Uttara Kannada is a district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Uttara Kannada District is a major coastal district of Karnataka, and currently holding the title of the largest district in Karnataka. It is bordered by the state of Goa and Bela ...

district. He topped his class in seventh standard while studying at his village school, after which his teachers recognized his "hunger for knowledge" and got him enrolled in a school in

Ankola Ankola is a Town Municipal Council and a taluka in Uttara Kannada district of the Indian state of Karnataka. The name of the place is derived from a forest shrub Ankola grown on the coastal hill side and worshiped by the Halakki Vokkaligas a ...

. He pursued the

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

from the Arts and Science College, Karwar, during which he joined the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family" ...

(RSS). He became the first graduate from the Siddi tribe, and wanted to get a government job after his graduation.

Activism

Shantaram's interactions with social workers Prakash Kamath and Nirmala Gaonkar changed his viewpoint towards life. Kamat once asked him, "You may get a good job and comfortable life for yourself but what about the community of yours? The Siddis, don’t you want them to be in the mainstream?" This motivated Shantaram to work for tribal welfare and he joined the RSS-affiliated

Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram is an Indian social welfare organization based in Jashpur, in the Chhattisgarh state of India. It focuses on the welfare activities of members of Scheduled Tribes in remote areas of India. The organization is a constituent o ...

as a volunteer in 1989 where he served as a hostel warden and is currently the secretary of its

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

state unit. He initially worked with the Siddi community, but now works with all tribal communities in Karnataka. He has also been associated with environmental movements such as the Bedti River Valley Conservation Movement, Appiko Movement, and ''Vraksha–Laksha Andolana''. He was a member of the Western Ghats Conservation Task Force appointed by the

Government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as, GoK, or simply Karnataka Government, is a democratically-elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka. The governor who is appointed ...

, and the Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy.

Nomination to the Legislative Council

Shantaram was nominated as a member of the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Vajubhai Vala Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala (born 23 January 1937) is an Indian statesman who was the 18th Governor of Karnataka from 1 September 2014 to 6 July 2021. He is also the longest serving Governor for Karnataka after Khurshed Alam Khan. Vajubhai served a ...

on 22 July 2020. He was nominated as a member of the

and is the first person from the Siddi community to be a member of a legislative body. He thanked Karnataka chief minister

B. S. Yediyurappa Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yediyurappa (born 27 February 1943), often referred to by his initials BSY, is an Indian politician currently serving as the member of the Bharatiya Janata Party Parliamentary board committee since 17 August 2022, t ...

and

Indian home minister The Minister of Home Affairs (or simply, the Home Minister, short-form HM) is the head of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India. One of the senior-most officers in the Union Cabinet, the chief responsibility of the Home Minist ...

Amit Shah Amit Anil Chandra Shah (born 22 October 1964) is an Indian politician currently serving as the Minister of Home Affairs since 2019 and the first Minister of Co-operation of India since 2021. He served as the President of the Bharatiya Janata P ...

for the nomination. Shantaram's nomination brought joy to the Siddi community. Akhila Karnataka Siddhi Foundation Trust president Diago Basthyav Siddhi said, "Our people came here in the 12th century. But we remain unknown. We struggled for our identity. We requested many political parties to give us representation. This has been a good recognition. We thank the governments both at the state and Centre." Akhila Karnataka Siddhi Vikas Sangh president Saver Louis Birji Siddi said, "We are thrilled that after so many years of being part of India, having given our sweat and blood to the country, our community has finally been recognised."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siddi, Shantaram Members of the Karnataka Legislative Council Siddhi people Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Karnataka Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh members Social workers from Karnataka Indian environmentalists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people