Cong out to win over Lingayats, to push for separate religion tag

DHNS
July 25, 2017

Bengaluru, Jul 25: The ruling Congress appears to have decided to step up its efforts to woo the dominant Lingayat community: Five Lingayat ministers in the Siddaramaiah Cabinet will embark on a state-wide tour next month to campaign for declaring the Veerashaiva-Lingayat dharma as a separate religion.Basavaraj

Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru on Monday, Higher Education Minister Basavaraj Rayareddi said ministers — Sharanprakash Patil, Eshwar Khandre, Vinay Kulkarni, S S Mallikarjun and himself — will tour the state, meeting community leaders, Lingayat math heads, office-bearers of Ahkila Bharatha Veerashaiva Mahasabha among others to push for declaring the Veerashaiva-Lingayat dharma as a separate religion.

He said once the Lingayat-Veerashaiva dharma is declared an independent religion, the community will seek “minority” status. “What is wrong in that.... Veerashaivas are neither Hindus nor any sub-sect of the Hindus. They are groups that emerged following a movement against casteism, inequality, feudalism and gender discrimination in Hindu society. We must be declared a separate religion and given minority status,” Rayareddi said, replying to a volley of questions from reporters.

The move by the ministers, which comes close on the heels on the demand for an official status to the state flag, is seen as a well planned strategy by the Congress to politically take on the BJP ahead of next year’s elections. The Lingayat community, by and large, is considered to electorally back the BJP across the state. By playing the separate religion card, the Congress is keen to make inroads into the BJP support base, say political observers.

Last week, a section of the Lingayat community took out a rally in Bidar and revived the demand for the formation of a separate religion for the community. They submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who said he was ready to take it up with the Centre if there is unanimity among the community leaders.

However, Rayareddi denied that the move to seek a separate religion tag for Veerashaiva-Lingayat dharma was politically motivated. On the timing of the revival of the demand, the minister said it was just a coincidence and had nothing to do with the Assembly elections. He also denied that the Congress was playing the “Lingayat card” to take on the “Hindutva card” of the BJP and that the minority tag for Lingayat-Veerashaiva dharma will be used to bring the community into the Ahinda vote bank.

Rayareddi criticised BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa for stating that Veerashaivas are Hindus and that Siddaramaiah was trying to divide the community. “Yeddyurappa does not know anything about Lingayats. He follows the RSS ideology which has its foundations in Hindu philosophy,” Rayareddi said.

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iqtidar
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Tuesday, 25 Jul 2017

Innalillahi wa Inna Ilahi Rajiwun, may allah subhanawatala grant him jannatul firdaus

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Media Release
June 9,2020

Mangaluru: Continuing the relief work they started in the wake of the Corona Lockdown, ‘Team B-Human’ a local social organization is reaching out to the migrant workers who are stuck here in the region, unable to return to the homes.

Team of volunteers of the organization reached out to the migrant workers and distributed essential items including clothes and footwear of men, women, and kids.

Earlier, the organization had reached out to thousands of migrant workers and needy families and had helped them with food kits, Ramadan Kits along with medical assistance to many.

Several migrant workers recently moved back to their respective states, villages with their families, while others, unable to move back for various reasons are stuck here facing several difficulties and plights. The relief work by ‘Team B Human’ has helped several families of migrant workers in these distressing times.

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News Network
February 6,2020

New Delhi, Feb 6: BJP MP Tejaswi Surya said on Wednesday that the majority community has to remain vigilant or Mughal rule will return to the country, as he slammed the anti-CAA protest at Shaheen Bagh.

He was participating in the debate on Motion of Thanks on the President's Address in Lok Sabha.

Referring to the ongoing protest at Shaheen Bagh against the Citizenship Amendment Act, he said, "Unless majority community remains vigilant, the days of Mughal Raj may not be far away."

Surya also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for resolving several critical issues which had been pending for several decades.

The CAA, he said, was aimed at resolving the issues emanating from Partition and added, "The new India cannot to built without healing the wounds of the past."

He said that the CAA was about giving citizenship to persecuted minorities in Pakistan, Bangaladesh and Afghanistan and not for taking away anyone's citizenship.

Under the leadership of Modi, Surya said, several issues of the past have seen closure. These include abrogation of Article 370, construction of Ram temple, Bodo problems and abolition of Triple Talaq.

K Sudhakaran (Cong) said that a time when the economy was going through its worst phase and unemployment was high, the President in his speech talked about making India a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024.

On the comments of the government functionaries that fundamentals of the economy are strong, he said the same expression was used by the then US President George Bush, days before the collapse of the America's iconic investment banker Lehman Brothers.

Not only that, Sudhakaran said even before the Great Depression, the then US President used to say that fundamentals of their economy were strong.

Anupriya Patel (Apna Dal) demanded that the government set up All India Judicial Services Commission to ensure representation of the backward community in the judiciary.

Khagen Murmu (BJP) regretted that West Bengal government was not implementing the welfare schemes of the Centre in the state.

Badruddin Ajmal (AIUDF) said that people of all communities have fought for freedom of the country and it would be incorrect to declare everyone opposing the government's policies as 'gaddar' (traitor).

He said that the government should talk to people protesting against the CAA at Shaheen Bagh and other places, and explain the provisions to them.

Shrirang Appa Barne (Shiv Sena) demanded that the ruling party fulfil all promises it had made to the people of the country.

He regretted that although the government promised to double the income of farmers by 2022, farmers were still committing suicide.

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News Network
May 7,2020

Bengaluru, May 7: Karnataka Minister for Labour Shivaram Hebbar, on Thursday, ordered issuance of notice to employers who have not paid salary to the workers during lockdown period amid Coronavirus threat in the state.

The Ministry has also directed serving notice to those employers who have reduced the wages of the workers in April '20, official sources told UNI here.

State Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had appealed to the employers not to retrench any employee from the job because of their failure to attend to work because of Coronavirus which is spreading like wildfire and since they have been asked to remain in the house.

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