Bhosikar claimed the Lingayats accounted for around 1 crore of Maharashtra's population with significant presence in 11 Lok Sabha constituencies
Renewing their call seeking recognition as a separate religion and grant of minority status, Lingayat organisations have threatened to vote against the BJP if this was not acceded to. Some groups also want quotas for their community.
"Our demand is for recognition as a separate religion and grant of minority status. We are calling on our community to vote for any party except the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls as the state and central governments have not agreed to our demands," said Avinash Bhosikar, national convenor, Lingayat Samanvay Samiti, an umbrella group of 48 organisations. The agitation is being led by Lingayat pontiffs like 102-year old Shivalinga Shivacharya Maharaj of Ahmedpur in Latur, Mate Mahadevi of the Basava Dharma Peetha and Basavlinga Pattadevaru Bhalkikar.
Bhosikar claimed the Lingayats accounted for around 1 crore of Maharashtra's population with significant presence in 11 Lok Sabha constituencies, namely, Hingoli, Nanded, Latur, Osmanabad, Solapur, Madha, Sangli, Kolhapur, Hatkanangale, Beed and Parbhani. "We have organised eight silent protests across Maharashtra will hold one on August 9 in Mumbai, which will be attended by around five lakh people," he said.
The community has around seven MLAs and one MP in Maharashtra.
While Bhosikar said they were not demanding quotas as many of their sub-castes were covered under different categories of reservations, Sudarshan Birajdar of the Lingayat Mahasangh said they were seeking that those classified as Hindu Lingayats and Lingayats be included in the OBC quota.
"We are willing to put the demand for a religion tag on the back-burner for reservations. Moreover, the separate religion demand has also met with a wall of opposition from within the community," added Birajdar, stating they would hold a conclave in Latur next month to be attended by leaders across political lines.
Those seeking classification as a separate religion point to their historic records, philosophy and them being avaidiks (non-adherents of the Vedas), but admit they are "culturally Hindus" with their social stratification replicating that of Hinduism.
Supporters of the agitation said one of their triggers was Marathas launching aggressive protests for reservations, which led to counter-mobilisation by other sections. However, Veershaiva- Lingayat pontiffs and organisations like the Akhil Bharatiya Veershaiv Yuvak Sanghatana (Shiva) of Manohar Dhonde of the Akhil Bharatiya Veershaiv Yuvak Sanghatana (Shiva) oppose the separate religion demand.
Dhonde is seeking that remaining Veershaiva Lingayat sub-castes in general category be included in categories like OBC, NT and SBC for quota benefits.
The separate religion status for Lingayats, who make around 17% of the population, had dominated the 2018 Karnataka legislative assembly elections. The erstwhile Siddaramaiah-led Congress government granted the independent religion tag to the community but the move came as a cropper in the polls.
THE LINGAYATS
- Lingayats are followers of the 12th century saint-reformer Basaveshwara, who rebelled against caste, rituals and obscurantism. They have around 350 castes and sub-castes across India
- The demand for independent religion status was opposed by Veershaiva sect seers. Critics said proposals for a separate religion were rejected by the Centre in 1969, 1991, 1999, 2008 and 2014. Veershaiva Lingayats castes in the SC category would have lost quota benefits
- In Maharashtra, the agitation for Lingayats to be recognised as adherents of a separate religion is helmed by Shivalinga Shivacharya Maharaj Ahmedpurkar (102), who is based out of Ahmedpur in Latur. Bhosikar claimed the pontiff, a disciple of Madival Shivacharya Swami, held a MBBS degree from Lahore during the pre-partition era, and was a freedom fighter and RSS member
- Prominent Veershaiva Lingayat political faces in Maharashtra include Shivraj Patil-Chakurkar, Dilip Sopal, Vinay Kore-Savkar and the late Ratnappa Kumbhar
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