Demand to accord separate religion tag for Lingayats gains momentum again | Bengaluru News – The Times of India

Bengaluru: Demands to accord separate religion status for Lingayats, an issue that is widely believed to have cost Congress party dear in the 2018 assembly elections, have resurfaced with renewed intensity, with a section of top community representatives urging members to shun the Veerashaiva tag.
The latest push came at an event organised by Jagathik Lingayat Mahasabha (JLM) recently, where community representatives strongly opposed a book titled ‘Vachana Darshana’. Released in Aug last year, the book drew criticism for portraying community icon and 12th-century social reformer Basavanna as part of the Hindu Bhakti movement. Lingayat leaders assert that Basavanna led a revolution for an egalitarian society, not a religious sect within Hinduism.
In response, the Mahasabha launched a book of its own — ‘Vachana Darshana Mithya-Satya’ — to challenge claims made in ‘Vachana Darshana’. The event also saw renewed calls for Lingayats to establish their distinct religious identity by dropping the Veerashaiva tag when identifying themselves.
Community leaders urged members to use ‘Lingayat’ as a prefix to caste names in official records, including the upcoming national population census. For example, they suggested writing Lingayat Haparad or Lingayat Kammara while registering caste details and marking ‘Lingayat’ under the religion column.
The move is politically significant since industries minister MB Patil, a prominent voice of the separate religion movement, has claimed that the Lingayat population was under-reported in the Karnataka caste census. Patil also serves as working president of JLM.
“The population of Lingayats is believed to have been under-projected at 65 lakh, whereas the actual number is around two crore,” said Patil. “Since the caste census report is yet to be made public, the best way to correct this is for Veerashaiva-Lingayats to identify as a single community.”
He said the JLM event was to “demystify” claims made in ‘Vachana Darshana”. “Many expressed views at the event. Our concern is to ensure justice for the Lingayat community,” Patil said.
The JLM is set to intensify efforts for a separate religion tag and has planned a series of events, including mass programmes in all districts in Sept, followed by a jatha (march) from Basavana Bagewadi in Vijayapura district to Bengaluru in Oct. GB Patil, Mahasabha general secretary, said the struggle for separate religion status was never abandoned. “So, it isn’t a revival of the movement,” he said.
In 2018, the state govt sent a proposal to the Union govt suggesting it recognise Lingayats as a separate religion, but the proposal was sent back in 2019. The Mahasabha intends to urge the govt to resend the proposal.
Interestingly, Veerashaiva representatives, including Shankar Bidri, state president, Veerashaiva-Lingayat Mahasabha, attended the recent event. But Bidri said efforts are ongoing to unite Veerashaivas and Lingayats and push for separate religion status collectively.
The resurgence of the Lingayat movement comes at time when the Congress govt faces growing pressure from various caste groups. For instance, OBC organisations want the govt to implement recommendations of the caste census report — something which Lingayats and Vokkaligas strongly oppose.