A series of mega rallies urging an early decision on the demand for independent religion status to Lingayat/Veerashaiva Dharma seem to have made the State government refer the matter to the State Minorities Commission. This, however, has received mixed response.
On Thursday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said he would refer the matter to the commission while speaking to presspersons in Koppal district. Within a day, an official communication was issued to this effect.
Those espousing the cause of Lingayat Dharma are happy with the development as they feel this would give them an opportunity to present their case before the commission.
Decision hailed
Welcoming the decision, Minister for Water Resources M.B. Patil said: “Our representatives like S.M. Jamdar will attend all hearings to present our case. We are hopeful of getting our demand met as we have all relevant documents,” he told The Hindu .
JD(S) leader and former Minister Basavaraj Horatti, who is also leading the Lingayat movement, said they should have referred the matter earlier, but it would now provide them a chance to present their arguments. “We have all historical documents from the British era, and Supreme Court documents. We will present our case strongly and are hopeful of a positive outcome,” he said.
However, All-India senior vice-president of Akhila Bharata Veerashaiva Mahasabha N. Thippanna said the development would have no effect on their stance.
Speaking to The Hindu in Ballari, he said the mahasabha was clear that Veerashaiva-Lingayat was independent of Hinduism and wanted independent religion status for ‘Veerashaiva-Lingayat’ as they were one and the same. He blamed the Congress for the confusion regarding the demand. “All these years, there was no differentiation between Veerashaiva and Lingayat. The rift has been caused owing to election politics by the Congress,” he alleged.
Those seeking independent religion status only for Lingayat, were all signatories to the demand for independent religion status for Veerashaiva-Lingayat Dharma in 2013, he said, adding that although the Congress government might make a recommendation keeping elections in mind, the demand would not be fulfilled immediately. “The demand was close to being fulfilled during the UPA government’s regime, but poll code came in between. The mahasabha will continue the fight for Veerashaiva-Lingayat Dharma,” he said.
