BENGALURU: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah should set up an expert committee to look into the demand for a separate religion status for Lingayats, said water resources minister M B Patil on Monday.
"We have submitted a memorandum to the chief minister citing18 court judgements, gazettes and historical works to substantiate our stance," Patil said. The expert committee should look into it and make a recommendation to the state, after which the issue can be taken up with the Centre, he said.
He said recognition of Lingayats as a separate religious group should be along the lines of a similar status granted to the Jains in 2013, he said. This will help the community and its sub-groups in accessing several facilities.
To a question, Patil alleged that past ‘conspiracies’ ensured that the popularity of Basavanna, who founded the Lingayat religion, was curtailed. "Basavanna should have been known to the world like Buddha or Jesus. But concerted efforts ensured that his message remained restricted locally," he said.
Noting that followers of the religion were distributed across the five southern states, he said that 90 per cent of Lingayats supported the demand for a separate religion tag.