In remarks that could trigger a row, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Saturday said 'Basava Dharma' was an independent religion, which is neither inside nor outside of Hinduism.
By 'Basava Dharma', Siddaramaiah was apparently referring to the Lingayat sect founded by 12th century AD social reformer Basaveshwara in North Karnataka.
Voicing his opinion for the first time on according separate religion tag to the Lingayat sect during his tenure as chief minister, Siddaramaiah said "Basava Dharma is a separate religion just like Buddhism and Jainism. It is neither inside nor outside Hinduism.
"I am of the opinion that it is an independent religion," he said at the launch of two books 'Lingayat Kannada Vachanadharma' and 'Vachanadharma Arivina Beragu authored by poet S G Siddaramaiah at Gandhi Bhavan here.
The Congress leader said he never expressed his views as chief minister of the state for he had to take eveybodys views on the topic.
Basaveshwara had fought against social evils prevailing in society, especially casteism and kept the philosophy of benevolence, compassion and charity as the centrepiece of his sect.
Drawing a parallel between the teachings of Basaveshwara and the Constitution, he said "those are anti-social whose deeds are contrary to the constitution."
His remark came hours after he termed the BJP government led by Lingayat strongman and new chief minister B S Yediyurappa in the state unconstitutional and unethical as the party with 105 MLAs was way off the halfway mark (111 seats) of the existing strength of 221 in the Karnataka assembly.
The former chief minister likened casteism as dust settled on top of the water.
"If someone wants to drink the water then the person has to remove the layer of dust," Siddaramaiah said, adding that if the dust was not removed, it will permanently settle and spoil the quality of water.
Speaking about challenges faced by people who wanted to uproot the social evil, he said everyone who fought against it had to face the consequences.
Siddaramaiah, however, rued that he became the scapegoat on granting separate religion tag to Lingayat sect.
When he was the chief minister his government championed for the cause of separate religion tag to Lingayat-Veerashaiva sect just ahead of the Assembly election in 2018.
The BJP had then termed it as a desperate bid to retain power by dividing Hindus.
Congress lost about 42 seats in the 2018 election compared to its performance in 2013. The Lingayat issue is said to be one of the major reasons behind it.
Explaining what went wrong, Siddaramaiah said the idea was mooted by the religious leaders of the Lingayat sect and he had asked them to come together.
However, they did not turn up and he had to take the lead. As a result, he was projected as a villain by his opponents, he added.
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