The Ministry of Home Affairs, had described in an internal note that giving the Lingayat community religious minority status would “deprive” them of the Scheduled Caste status. The note also warned of “widespread implications” if other sections of Hinduism also raise similar demands.
The Siddaramaiah government in Karnataka decided to recommend granting minority status to Lingayats to the Centre, on March 23. The Karnataka Minority Welfare Department had published a notification describes those who follow the Basava philosophy will be considered a Lingayat. The decision is anticipated to have a major influence on the Assembly elections in May as the community makes up about 17% of the electorate.
The home ministry has not made a final decision yet, but has warned that “Arya Samaj, Radhaswami, Vaishnava and a few other sects of the Hinduism” that “also do not adhere to typical Brahminical Hinduism” may “line up to be declared as separate religious entities”, the report said. The ministry is not in a hurry to come to a decision either as the Model Code of Conduct is in place in Karnataka, unidentified officials told.
According to the National Commission of Minorities Act, 1992, Muslims, Christian, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains are listed into the minorities. Jains were the last tagged in the list in 2014.
The Bharatiya Janata Party had criticized the Congress government’s decision on the Lingayats. BJP National President Amit Shah had claimed that the move was aimed at preventing Karnataka BJP President BS Yeddyurappa from becoming the chief minister.
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