कलिमलग्रसेधर्मसबलुप्तभएसदग्रंथ।दंभिन्हनिजमतिकल्पिकरिप्रगटकिएबहुपंथ॥
The sins unleashed by Kaliyug has made righteousness disappear and have made all the pious scriptures unavailable. The hypocrites have made multiple religious paths appear as per their wish.
[-Shri Ramcharitmanas, GoswamiTulsidas]
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is at it again. His government has forwarded the recommendation of identifying the Lingayat community as a separate religion to the central government.
HN Nagamohan Das Committee
On 2nd March, a seven-member expert committee constituted by the Karnataka Government and headed by retired HC Justice HN Nagamohan Das submitted a 200 page report to the Karnataka State Minorities Commission (KSMC) recommending the “Religious Minority” status for Lingayat community.
The committee went through about 5000 pages of documents related to religious dogma, literature, rituals and practices before arriving at the decision. It concluded that there is enough evidence to show that the supposed Lingayat religion is different from the Hindu religion. It recommended the “religious minority” status for the Lingayats and the nomenclature of ‘Lingayat’ and not ‘Lingayat-Veerashaiva’ as demanded by a section of the community. It also mentioned that Veerashaivas too, as a sect, can be part of the larger umbrella of the ‘Lingayat religion’.
Lingayats and Veerashaiva – A Brief History
Lingayitism was expounded by the twelfth century saint Basava. Even though he was born in a Brahmin family, Basava rejected varna-distinction and the wearing of the sacred janeyu. He replaced the wearing of the sacred thread with the wearing of the Ishtalinga necklace with an image of the Shivalinga. The sect promotes undivided worship of Lord Shiva, wearing of Rudraksha beads and Vibhuti. The monolithic sect rejects temple worship, following of rituals and promotes personalized direct worship of Lord Shiva. Shiva, Shivalinga, Rudraksh, Vibhuti and the sect still don’t identify with Hinduism according to the commission!
Veerashaiva, on the other hand, follow Vedic rituals, varna and are the third largest Shaiva sect in India. The largest number of followers are in Karnataka. In Tamil Nadu, they are identified as Shaivadvaitas. In North India, they are classified as Shaiva Aagam. They also consider Lord Shiva as the Supreme Being.
The Issue
The Lingayats, who constitute of 20 to 25 percent of state’s population,allegedly want a separate religious identity for themselves according to some people. The Veerashaivas too, allegedly again, want themselves to be identified as a separate religion along with the Lingayats.
On 15th March, about 50 Veerashaiva pontiffs met the chief minister and demanded that the government should reject the report of the Nagamohan Das committee that favors granting a separate religious status and minority tag only to Lingayats and excludes the Veerashaivas.
On 18th March, a group of Lingayat seers, led by Gadag-based Tontadarya Mutt’s SiddalingaSwami ,met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and urged him to implement the report of an official committee that recommended conferring a separate religious and minority status to the community. The seers called on Siddaramaiah at his official residence in Bengaluru and wanted him to consider and implement the Nagmohan Das Committee’s report that said “Lingayats in Karnataka may be considered as religious minority”.
The State Cabinet Rift: And Siddaramaiah’s dilemma
The Lingayat supporters, two of his cabinet colleagues—M.B. Patil and Vinay Kulkarni who spearheaded the Lingayat agitation—are threatening to resign from the cabinet if the government does not refer the expert committee report to the centre.
The Veerashaiva supporters, comprising of ministers, Eshwar Khandre and S.S. Mallikarjuna (son of veteran Congress leader and All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha president Shamanur Shivashankarappa), have urged the CM to reject the report.
This has landed Siddaramaiah in trouble because now he will face the heat from the Veerashaiva sect and the ministers backing them.
On 19th March, the state government accepted suggestions of the Nagamohan Das committee to recognize Lingayats as a separate religion. Making a huge statement ahead of the polls, the cabinet gave its nod to the recommendation for a separate religion for the Lingayat community. The state government has forwarded its recommendations to the Centre, which has to take the final decision.
Role of B.S. Yeddyurappa
Yeddyurappa is identified as the sole leader of Lingayats in the state right from 2004 after the split of the Janta Dal into JD(U) and JD(S). Lingayat strongman and state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa has taken a clear stance, saying that his party would not allow any efforts to divide the community i.e. Lingayats and Veerashaivas. A surprise meeting of BJP’s Lingayat strongman B.S. Yeddyurappa with Shamanur Shankarappa has upset the Congress party, as the rift within the Congress cabinet is now wide open.
With Amit Shah’s open declaration of Karnataka being a ‘certain win’ for BJP, Yeddyurappa’s strong hold on the Lingayats, Siddaramaih’s throwing the ball in center’s court will land him in additional trouble as either of the two communities will call for agitations and a split in his state cabinet is now imminent.
Beware Siddaramaiah! Congress had suffered a split in 1969 on the Lingayat issue and the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had instantaneously removed Chief Minister Virendra Patil. This was taken as a humiliation by the Lingayats. You can neither praise Rajiv Gandhi and his kins in the election nor can you afford to annoy Lingayats, who seem to be with the BJP anyway.