The BJP which came to power promising to espouse the cause of Hindus was now trying to demolish places of worship and mutts belonging to Veerashaiva Lingayat community, seer of Balehosur Mutt Sri Dingaleswhwar Swami has alleged.
Addressing presspersons in Dharwad on Saturday, the seer slammed the BJP government and said that it seemed people without brains were at the helm of affairs in the present government led by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. “After having demolished the temple at Nanjangud, the government is now saying that the records pertaining to the temple will be verified with the Archaeology Department,” he said.
The seer challenged Mr. Bommai to first demolish the religious structure which was in the centre of the road at Bankapur, in his home constituency, if he was really committed to removing all structures that had become hurdle for development works. The seer said he would support the demand for 2A reservation for Lingayat Panchamasali community and wanted the government to provide requisite reservation to all the sub-castes of Veerashaiva Lingayat community.
On the controversy surrounding the acquisition of land belonging to Shivanand Mutt in Mysuru, he said the government should immediately put a full stop to the process or else be prepared to face backlash. “Swami Vivekananda had only stayed for some days at the over 200-year-old Shivanand Mutt in Mysuru for few days in 1892. However, Ramakrishna Vivekananda Ashram claimed ownership of the mutt itself. The then Chief Minister Sadanand Gowda permitted the acquisition and allocated ₹5 crore for development, which was a foolish decision,” he said.
The government should immediately stop the process and give alternate land to the Ramakrishna Ashrama instead of the one belonging to Shivanand Mutt, he said.
