Panel to decide on religion tag for Lingayat

DHNS
December 23, 2017

Bengaluru, Dec 23: A seven-member expert committee has been constituted to look into demands for a minority religion tag for the Lingayat and Veerashaiva faiths, even as all three major political parties - the Congress, the BJP and the JD(S) - tread cautiously on the sensitive issue ahead of the Assembly elections.

Retired High Court Justice H N Nagmohan Das will head the committee that has been formed by the Karnataka State Minorities Commission. The committee, sources said, has been given four weeks to examine demands made by various religious groups in this regard and submit a report.

This comes days after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asked the minorities commission to look into demands from various political and religious leaders who have sought minority religion status in the Lingayat and Veerashaiva faiths. This is also an indication that the government is in a hurry to draw curtains on this issue, which is considered a political hot potato with polls round the corner.

According to sources, the committee comprises Kannada Development Authority chairman S G Siddaramaiah; Jawaharlal Nehru University Kannada Language chair Purushothama Bilimale; University of Mysore political science professor Muzaffar Assadi; former backward classes commission chairman C S Dwarakanath; journalist Sarjoo Katkar and litterateur Ramakrishna Marathe.

The Veerashaiva and Lingayat camps, comprising leaders from the Congress, have been at loggerheads over the issue. The Veerashaiva group comprises veteran Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa, his son and Horticulture Minister S S Mallikarjun and Municipalities Minister Eshwar B Khandre. They hold that Veerashaiva and Lingayat are the same and that the separate religion should be christened Veerashaiva-Lingayat. Veerashaivas say their religion predates 12th-century reformer Basavanna, revered as the founder of the Lingayat faith. Veerashaivas revere a pantheon of holy men.

The Lingayat camp, led by Water Resources Minister M B Patil, Mines and Geology Minister Vinay Kulkarni and Higher Education Minister Basavaraj Rayareddy, argues that Veerashaiva and Lingayat are radically different, and the religion must be called Lingayat. This group says it goes by the ideals of Basavanna.

BJP state chief B S Yeddyurappa said his party will side with the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha, whereas JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda has accused the ruling Congress of creating a divide among Veerashaivas and Lingayats.

Comments

AK Shetty
 - 
Saturday, 23 Dec 2017

Shows how much religion screwed up modern Indians due to reservation menace. Time to abolish religion based, caste based reservation. Even Ramakrishna mutt tried to call itself a religion few decades ago (mainly for tax purpose I think)

Anonymous
 - 
Saturday, 23 Dec 2017

I think this demand as per constitution is correct . If anybody has reservation , then they should stash their personal opinions in their bags, and check laws first before making looser opinions. why not you idiots then oppose Jain , and Sikhs and Buddhists why to give biased opinions to Lingayats. Are you not biased? why not to strip off all minority status of Christian , Muslims, Jain and Sikhs then ? Correct laws and constitutions first then talk, and stop rubbish
I see lot of government land grab by "Jains" in name of educational institute in all over Karnataka ..anybody asked why they got that as minority benefits ..no ..why 2% percent people of state need 5% land of state to be grabbed ? this is OK and then if other people want to do in their way ...why is this ado ...

Mohan
 - 
Saturday, 23 Dec 2017

Yeah nice time to hit it.elections are just round the corner!!

Congi
 - 
Saturday, 23 Dec 2017

Vatican's Breaking-India mission smelling of success.

Chandan
 - 
Saturday, 23 Dec 2017

It's a internal matter of Kannadigas.

Ganesh
 - 
Saturday, 23 Dec 2017

Lingayat row should end conclude soon, otherwise it may affect in election also

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News Network
May 10,2020

Mangaluru, May 10: A special train carrying 1,140 migrant workers stranded here in the lockdown has left Mangaluru railway station for Jharkhand.

Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and Vedavyas Kamath, MLA, were present at the railway station on Saturday night when the train left.

Kamath said the workers who had registered on the state governments Seva Sindhu portal were brought to the railway station in Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses.

A health check-up was carried out before they boarded the train.

The district administration also provided food packets and water to the migrants at the station.

Three more trains will leave from Mangaluru for Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand soon, he said.

Meanwhile, in a statement, Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner Sindhu P Rupesh said train services are being arranged for migrant workers who have registered their names on the Seva Sindhu portal.

The workers will be informed when trains are arranged to their destinations and they need not throng the railway station unnecessarily, she said.

Around 20,000 workers have so far registered themselves online, including 5,000 from Jharkhand, 3,000 from Uttar Pradesh and 4,000 from Bihar.

Hundreds of migrant workers had on Friday staged a protest at the central railway station here, demanding that they be sent back home.

The workers went back to their camps only after district authorities and police gave them assurance that trains will be arranged in three days.

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News Network
February 18,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 18: Passengers of the Ahmedabad bound GoAir flight had a providential escape when the engine of the aircraft while on the roll of take-off hit by a foreign object at the Kempe Gowda Bengaluru International Airport on Tuesday.

'The right engine of GoAir flight G8 802 from Ahmedabad to Bengaluru is suspected to have suffered from foreign object damage (FOD) while on take-off roll,' an official statement said.

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Agencies
February 25,2020

New Delhi, Nov 25: According to multiple media reports, at least 11 people were killed and around 150 injured in the large scale violence unleashed by the Sangh Parivar activists to suppress anti-CAA agitation in the capital of India.

Violence was reported from Jaffrabad, Chandbagh, Maujpur, Bhajanpura, Gokulpuri, Khajuri Khas, Kardampuri, Dayalpur and Hauz Rani and prohibitory orders were clamped in several areas of North East Delhi. 

The MHA said the situation was under control and paramilitary forces have been deployed in large numbers in trouble spots. The Gokulpuri tire market was set on fire. The violence has also led to the destruction of several crores worth of property. 

As tension smouldered in the national capital's northeast and the sun set over another restive day, violence cut a swathe through several localities, including Chand Bagh and Bhajanpura, with stones and other missiles hurled and shops set ablaze.

Rioters damaged two fire tenders in Gokulpuri and crowds raising incendiary slogans set on fire fruit carts, rickshaws and anything that came in their way in the epicentre of the trouble Maujpur and other places.

With US President Donald Trump also in the city, Delhi Police ramped up security. It fired teargas shells to disperse the rioters -- armed with stones, rods and even swords and many wearing helmets to protect themselves -- and was assisted by paramilitary personnel.

Streets were littered with mangled remains of vehicles, bricks and burnt tyres, mute testimony to the violence and bloodshed that took on a communal taint on Monday and injured about 180 people, including 48 police personnel.

According to GTB Hospital Medical Superintendent Sunil Kumar, six people were declared brought dead on Tuesday, taking the death toll in 11. At least 35 injured people were also taken to the hospital today.

"Fifty per cent of those injured have sustained bullet injuries," Kumar added.

As the violence continued unabated, police officials said the situation was under control and flag marches were conducted in Bhajanpura, Khajuri Khas and other places.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah convened a meeting with Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Police chief Amulya Patnaik and others to address the situation.

The meeting resolved that workers of political parties should join hands to restore peace and peace committees should be reactivated in all localities.

In scenes not seen in the national capital for decades, frenzied groups thrashed people on the road and vandalised vehicles.

The media also came under attack.

Akshay, a journalist with JK 24X7 News, received a bullet injury and was in a serious condition in hospital, and two reporters from NDTV were beaten and punched by rioters. Many other journalists were heckled and told to go back.

Schools were shut and fearful residents stayed indoors as restless crowds roamed the streets, seemingly unmindful of prohibitory orders restricting the assembly of more than four people imposed on Monday.

"There is hardly any police presence in the area. Rioters are running around threatening people, vandalising shops. Families need to be evacuated. We are unsafe in our own homes," said a resident of Maujpur, requesting anonymity.

Another added that this is the first time in 35 years -- possibly since the 1984 anti-Sikh riots -- that he has seen a situation such as this. "The area had always remained peaceful," he told PTI.

Trouble continued through the day.

Around 5 pm in Chand Bagh, for instance, security personnel were pelted with stones. They chased the mob, only to be attacked afresh with some people also armed with petrol bombs.

A few residents in Yamuna Vihar and Jaffrabad told PTI they had seen rioters with swords in their hands.

The 11 killed include Delhi Police head constable Ratan Lal. While Lal died of gunshot wounds, it is still not yet clear what killed the others or who they all were.

Among those killed was Vinod Kumar, a resident of Ghonda who was brought dead to the hospital and whose body is at the morgue of the Jag Parvesh Hospital.

Also killed was Mohammad Furkan from Kardampuri, near Jafrabad, who got married in 2014 and has two children. His brother, Mohammed Imran, overcome with grief, said they were both in the handicrafts business.

"He had gone to get some food for his children. Someone told me he had been shot. I couldn't believe it as I had met him barely an hour earlier. I kept calling him... I then rushed to GTB Hospital where I was told that he is dead," he told reporters, sobbing inconsolably outside the hospital.

Imran blamed BJP leader Kapil Mishra's tweet, giving Delhi Police an ultimatum to clear the streets of protesters and saying people would be quiet only until Trump is in India.

"Before that everything was peaceful," he said.

One person seen brandishing a gun before police on Monday was identified as Shah Rukh and been arrested yet. Police said 11 FIRs have been filed.

Kejriwal, who held a meeting with senior officials and MLAs of all parties to discuss the situation, asked people to refrain from violence and said all issues can be dealt with through dialogue.

"Stop this madness," he said after visiting the injured in GTB Hospital.

"I have met the people who were injured, also met some people who sustained bullet injuries. The biggest concern is to stop the violence. I appeal to everyone to stop the violence," he said.

Five stations on the Delhi Metro's Pink Line were closed for the second consecutive day on Tuesday in the wake of the trouble.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Amit Sharma underwent an operation on Monday night for the head injury sustained during the clashes.

Comments

Angry Indian
 - 
Wednesday, 26 Feb 2020

pakistan is very very happy to see this because we indian MARONS fighting each other as a HINDu & MUSLIM destroying our country with our own hand..

great india..jai hind

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