Terms of separation

Terms of separation

Context

The move to recogniseLingayats as a separate religion must be seen in a political and historical context

Request of classification at the time of finalization of Indian Constitution

• The Lingayats were recorded as a caste within the Hindu religion for the first time in the 1881 census done in Mysore state
• Their request to be classified as a separate religion instead was turned down at the time the Indian Constitution was being finalized
• The rationale: How can Shaivites not be Hindu?

Nagamohan Das committee

• The six-member Nagamohan Das committee, which was constituted three months ago, views Lingayats and those who believe in Basava’s philosophy as belonging to a separate religion.
• The latter criterion is an opening offered to Veerashaivas who are clubbed with Lingayats in official documents despite their theological differences with the latter.
• The Siddaramaiah government has now asked the Centre to endorse the committee’s view that Lingayats form a separate religion