A small town in the border
district of Bidar in north-east
Karnataka is where the movement for the separate religion status for the
Lingayat community first began. Basava
Kalyan is the home town of the 12th century reformer saint-poet Basavanna or
Basaveshwara. It was called Kalyan till 1965, when the prefix Basava was
added as a tribute to the reformer.
Why is it in the news?
It was the epicentre of the socio-cultural reform movement, led by Basavanna, who propounded the
Lingayat faith. His followers are called
Lingayats. Following a Statewide movement by Lingayats, the government approved a request for
considering Lingayatism as a distinct religion and recommended it for minority
status. The State has sent the proposal to the BJP-led government at the
Centre, which is yet to spell out its stand.
Some see this as the first step
towards the victory for a centuries-old movement. However, with the impending
elections, observers feel it is a political game by the Congress government to
divide the Lingayats who has been the BJP’s core votebank for decades in the
State.
What are the key issues?
Basava Kalyan is listed among the most backward taluks in Karnataka, as
per the High-power Committee for Redressal of Regional Imbalances, headed by
D.M. Nanjundappa. Erratic rainfall, non irrigated farmland and low levels of
industrialisation have kept it backward. The Lingayats may not form more than 20% of the population, but
Basavanna is revered by all. Politically, the town is divided. Mate
Mahadevi, who is heading the movement for a separate religion, has a large
following here. She runs a convent for female monks and organises the Kalyan
Parva festival once a year.
Are they for separate
religion?
A large section of the community
is elated. “The BJP leadership may be undecided about separate religion status
for Lingayatism, but BJP followers want it badly,” says Basavraj Dhannur, a
member of the committee that held rallies demanding the separate religion
status across north Karnataka , Telangana and Maharashtra. He points out that
just as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has agreed to the demand in 2018, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi will have to give his nod in 2019. Basava Kalyan has been at the centre of the separate religion movement
since the 1980s. Though the movement began here, it spread to the whole of
Karnataka and even to Maharashtra and Telangana.
Who was Basavanna?
The saint-poet led a movement against caste, class and gender barriers.
Research by the late M.M. Kalburgi shows he lived between 1130 and 1170 AD. Basavanna served as the head of the state exchequer in the palace
of Kalachuri Immadi Bijjala, a feudatory of the Chalukyan Kings. Bijjala declared independence
later. Basavanna was raised in Kudala Sangama, but joined the state treasury in Basava Kalyan, capital of
the Kalachuri kingdom.
He was born a Brahmin but rebelled and
advocated his own ideology based on the principles of equality and fraternity,
dignity of labour, creation and distribution of wealth. He inspired about 770 professionals from
various vocations to become writers and thinkers, according to scholars.
They all came to be called Sharanas (those who believed in his ideology) and
their poems are called Vachanas (sayings). Only around 30,000 Vachanas
written by around 250 men and women are available now.
What do elections mean?
With the Congress conceding the
demand for the separate religion status, it has challenged the notion that
former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa is the unquestioned leader of Lingayats.
The movement has thrown up Lingayat leaders in the Congress like M.B. Patil and
in the JD (S) like Basavraj Horatti. The Lingayat vote is likely to be split.
While many Lingayats may still back the BJP, voting will not be as tight as in
earlier elections, observers say. The younger, educated Lingayats are expected
to swing to the Congress.
Credit: The Hindu Explains (http://www.thehindu.com/elections/karnataka-2018/in-karnataka-where-lingayats-are-at-the-core-this-elections/article23542959.ece)
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