Lingayat, Veerashaiva sects come face to face

Lingayat women anguished over seer asking them to cast off Mangalsutra

The police trying to control supporters of Veerashaiva and Lingayat sects as they were involved in a scuffle in Vijayapura on Tuesday.

In a first apparent scuffle between Lingayat and Veerashaiva, supporters of both the sides came face to face here on Tuesday.

The incident took place near Siddeshwar temple in the evening when women members of Lingayat sects arrived at the temple to express their anguish against the statement of Shivaprakash Shivacharya Swamy of Basavanabagewadi taluk who had dared women of Lingayat sect to remove their Mangalsutra, if they really believed in Lingayat ideology.

The seer, who is supporter of the Veerashaiva sect, had said that since wearing Mangalsutra was not part of Lingayat, then they should remove their Mangalsutras.

Angered by this statement, women members and other supporters converged on the temple where there was a minor scuffle and heated argument between the supporters of both the sects.

The police quickly intervened in the matter and brought the situation under control.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of supporters of the seer and Veerashaiva sect participated in a rally to protest against Water Resources Minister M.B. Patil.

According to them, Mr. Patil had used some derogatory and objectionable words against their seers who had apparently given controversial statements.

Meanwhile, the women members of Lingayat sect also held a rally against the seer and later submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner. In the memorandum, they demanded that the government take legal action against the seer.