BENGALURU: Members of Basava Kendra and some pontiffs on Tuesday held a closed-door meeting at Suttur Mutt in Old Mysuru region amid widespread differences over separate religion status for Lingayats.
Sources in the mutt told DC that all developments were discussed though no decision was arrived at the meeting. Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Swami, head of Suttur Mutt, reportedly attended the meet for sometime and left.
Sources said the issue of separate religion tag has created a division in Veerashaiva- Lingayat community with one section led by water resources minister M B Patil threatening to carve Akhila Bharathiya Lingayat Mahasabha (ABLM), as an entity parallel to Akhila Bharathiya Veerashaiva Mahasabha (ABVM). While Mr Patil has adopted a stand that Veerashaivas belong to a sub sect, former minister Shamanur Shivashankarappa contends that Veerashaivas –Lingayats are two faces of one coin. Mr Patil and Mr Shivashankarappa have urged CM Siddaramaiah to take a final call before forwarding their memorandums to the Centre on this issue.
Sources said both Suttur Mutt, Mysuru, and Siddaganga Mutt, Tumakuru, have not spelt out their stand on issue of a separate religion tag for Lingayats With both these Maths holding sway over Old Mysuru and central Karnataka, people belonging to the numerically significant community are awaiting their decision on whether to go with ABVM or ABLM.
