Veerashaiva Mahasabha Opposes Religious Minority Status To Lingayats, Slams Karnataka Govt For 'Splitting The Community'

The All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha on Friday said it would revive its memorandum to the central government seeking minority community status for the Veerashaiva-Lingayats while, at the same time, condemning the Karnataka government's recent decision on the minority tag, saying it amounted to splitting the community with an eye on elections.

The Mahasabha says that its application to the Centre in 2013 wasn't rejected contrary to reports, but could not be taken forward because the parliamentary elections were held the following year. "It has not been rejected though some leaders have been claiming that it was. That is false. We have now resolved to pursue the application seeking recognition as a minority with the central government," Mahasabha president Shamanur Shivashankarappa told reporters.

The minority recognition is a long standing demand from the community and the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government had referred it to an expert panel which submitted its report recently. On March 19, the state government decided to accept the recommendations of this report and recognise the 'Lingayats and Veerashaiva Lingayats (believers of Basava philosophy)' as a religious minority. The move, predictably, has created a political kerfuffle ahead of elections in the state.

Over the several months, the Lingayat religious identity issue has been a contentious one with religious leaders taking opposite stands on whether Veerashaivas and Lingayats -- both synonyms for long -- were distinct groups.

The nomenclature used by the Karnataka government in its recent decision is aimed at dividing the community, the Mahasabha says. 

"We condemn what the government has done. It's wrong to break up the Veerashaiva-Lingayats, the two are the same," Shivashankarappa, a veteran Congressman himself, said.

The Lingayats, who form about 17 percent of the state's electorate, are a key support base for the BJP, whose chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa also hails from the community. Earlier this week, Yeddyurappa had said his party would stand by the Mahasabha's decision. 

N Thippanna, senior vice president of the Mahasabha, said the term 'believers of Basava philosophy' was added only because some swamijis claim that Renukacharya was the founder of the community and not Basaveshwara. "If you are really interested in the unity of this community, simply say that Veerashaiva-Lingayats are one and the same. Except that, they say everything else," he said.

"The whole thing is being manipulated only because of elections," said Thippanna. "The (expert) committee which required six months could finish everything in one-and-a-half months. Is it ever possible? They have done it because the government wanted it," he added.

The Lingayat religious 'mathas' and prominent leaders run numerous educational institutions which would benefit from the  minority religion status as they can reserve more seats for students from the community.