Bengaluru, Sept 16: Medical Education Minister Dr Sharan Prakash Patil on Friday said the separate Lingayat religion issue was “a closed chapter” as he chose to draw the curtains over the controversy that has raged on for several weeks now.
“The separate religion issue - whether it has to be Lingayat or Veerashaiva-Lingayat - is a closed chapter now. Members of the community will now come together and take a decision,” Dr Patil told reporters after a meeting with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
“An expert committee will be formed to take the matter forward,” he said, clearly indicating his retreat.
Dr Patil also said the row involving Water Resources Minister M B Patil and the Siddaganga Mutt seer Shivakumara Swami had been settled. “(M B Patil) has already met the pontiff to clear the air on the confusion,” he said.
The demand for a separate religion tag for the Lingayat faith had divided the ruling Congress into two groups. M B Patil belonged to the group that demanded a separate religion called Lingayat. The group also included Higher Education Minister Basavaraj Rayareddy. Another group, which demanded a religion named Veerashaiva-Lingayat, comprised veteran leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa, his son and Horticulture Minister S S Mallikarjun and Municipal Administration Minister Eshwar B Khandre.
Revenue Minister Kagodu Thimmappa, meanwhile, said the idea of a separate Lingayat religion was “an illusion” and critiqued the way the campaign was headed. “If you want a religion as envisioned by Basavanna, you must hit the streets to demand abolition of the caste system. Instead, it will simply get restricted to speeches,” he told reporters.
'No Hindu religion'
Asked why his office did not sport a Basavanna portrait as mandated, Thimmappa replied: “I’m not into that madness. I’ve been involved in the socialist movement for the past five decades.”
Thimmappa went on to question the very existence of the Hindu religion. “There are only castes in India. People are leading lives based on caste beliefs. Who founded Hindu religion? What is the basis to call it a religion? Everybody is talking about Hindu unity, but there’s no such thing,” he said.
The kidnapped schoolboy was rescued by the police and reunited with his parents. Son of a gift shop owner from Basavanagudi area in Bengaluru, Chirag has reportedly told police that decided to make some quick money to spend on cricket betting and gambling after learning kidnap tricks from the ‘Crime Patrol’. According to police, Chirag reached a private school around 3pm on Tuesday on a Bounce rental bike and zeroed in on a fourth standard student who was walking out of school. He told the boy he was his father's friend and that he required help to search for a relative who had gone missing. The boy believed Chirag and rode pillion on the bike. Chirag then engaged the boy in conversation and learnt about his father's business and got his mobile phone number. He then made a call to the boy's father, demanded Rs 5 lakh and warned him against approaching cops. However, the boy's father alerted Cottonpet police and special teams were formed to crack the case. While Cottonpet inspector Venkatesh TC's squad verified CCTV footage in and around the school, Chamarajpet inspector BG Kumaraswamy's team started tracking the suspect's mobile phone movements. An hour later, the suspect's location was traced to a hotel on the Lavelle Road-St Mark's Road stretch. Police rushed there, rescued the boy and arrested Chirag.
Comments
Everything can be solved through proper meeting of two sides. At the same time should avoid unwanted statements. Media will catch those things and sensationalise the issue
Seperate Ligayat religion is good. divisions helps to improve and grow the specific community
Why seperate religion. People should unite and make only one
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