Bengaluru, Oct 20: Pledging to continue his fight for the separate religion tag and reservations for Lingayats, retired IAS officer S M Jaamdar has challenged the Paryaya Pejawar Mutt pontiff Vishwesha Teertha Swami to a debate on the issue.
The Pajawar mutt seer, who is one of the most revered religious swamijis for Hindus, had recently urged the Lingayats to withdraw from their decision of moving away from Hinduism. The seer also had argued that Lingayats also worship “Hindu god” Shiva.
Responding to the seer’s claims, Jaamdar said that Lingayats were never part of the Hindu religion. “Unlike the Hindu Shiva, the Lingayat Shiva is formless. Our Shiva is not worshipped in temples and there are no priests. Our concept is that of Ishta Linga, which is one’s own body," Jaamdar said at a press meet here on Friday.
"The Hindu Shiva is one of the Trinity (along with Brahma and Vishnu), whereas there’s no such concept for Lingayats. There are Gods in Hindu puranas and Vedas, which Lingayats don’t accept," he said
"The Hindu Shiva has wives and sons. Our Shiva is not a family man. There’s no concept of heaven and hell or rebirth in Lingayats. Pejawar seer should realize w these facts. Else, let him fix a time and date for a dialogue on this,” he added.
Jaamdar also criticized the Sangh Parivar for discrediting the Lingayat religion movement. “We are not the enemies of the Hindu religion. But the Sangh Parivar is making us look so. Why are they scared? No one objected when Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism became separate religions,” Jaamdar pointed out.
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