Will you turn your Mutt into Mosque or Church: BJP MP asks seer

Belagavi, Aug 28: BJP leader and Member of Parliament Suresh Angadi has triggered a controversy by asking Sri Siddarama Swami of Nagnur Rudrakshi Mutt whether the latter would turn the mutt into a mosque or a church.

The seer is spearheading an agitation seeking recognition to Lingayat religion. “Nagnur Mutt senior seer Sri Shiva Basava Swami baptised me when I was a child. He is no more now. All my life, my parents told me that I was a Hindu. I believed that I have lived according to my belief. But his junior Sri Siddarama Swami is now heading a movement to carve out Lingayatism as a religion, by dividing Hindus. If the Nagnur Mutt seer claims that he is not a Hindu, will he turn Nagnur Rudrakshi Mutt into a mosque or a church?” the MP asked.

He termed some Lingayat leaders as “vested interests who were trying to divide society, and were doing a disservice to Basaveshwara who had united 790 castes and sub-castes back in the 12th Century”.

Mr. Angadi reiterated that the rally to seek religion status in Belagavi on Tuesday was a Congress rally and not a Lingayat rally. “That is why I stayed away from it,” he said. It was the BJP that introduced Basaveshwara to the world. “We supported the efforts to put up Basaveshwara’s bust in London,” he said.

But the Congress is misleading the community and its leaders. It is a serious issue and all religious and political leaders should sit and discuss it before taking a decision, he said.

The MP maintained that he was a Hindu and asked the Nagnur seer to clarify whether he was a Hindu.

“But then, we are all Indians first. The BJP believes in the unity of all Indians, but the Congress does not. It has been dividing people on religious lines. The party was behind the agitations by Patels in Gujarat, Jats in Rajasthan and Marathas in Maharashtra. All this was because the Congress is trying to destabilise the country. Similarly, it is playing a political game in Karnataka, by provoking Lingayats to rise against the Union government,” he alleged.

He also alleged that Lingayat leaders who organised the rally in the Lingaraj College Grounds had given false information about the purpose of the convention. They said that it was for a convention and got permission to hold the rally, he said and clarified that he was not invited to the rally.