india

Updated: Oct 18, 2018 19:38 IST

Karnataka minister DK Shivakumar’s apology for the previous Congress government’s decision to accord minority status to the Lingayat sect and calling it “a big mistake” sparked a controversy Thursday with people associated with the demand lashing out at him and questioning the timing of his statement.

At a public meeting in Lakshmeshwara in Gadag district in northern Karnataka on Wednesday, the senior Congress leader sought people’s forgiveness for the previous government’s decision. “In this state, our government committed a big mistake. Government and politicians should not interfere in matters of religion and caste. It was a big mistake,” he said.

“If we have erred I want to ask you to forgive us. We should not politicise religion or try to spoil it because without religion we will not be able to respect humanity. The biggest virtue is belief… We must save our math and religion and help it grow,” Shivakumar added.

The issue pertains to the Congress-led state government’s decision to grant minority status to the sect in the lead-up to the assembly polls, following the year-long agitation on the demand. The issue had brought out differences between the Lingayats and Veerashaivas, who were till recently considered a part of the same sect.

The Congress however went to perform poorly in the elections, getting relegated to second spot behind the Bharatiya Janata Party and many within the party had blamed the minority tag as being the reason for the party’s lacklustre performance, after it ended up with 78 seats out of 224.

Incidentally, Shivakumar made the comments at a public meeting held by the seer of the Balehonnur Rambhapuri Math that belongs to the Veerashaiva tradition, and had opposed the Lingayat movement.

Criticising Shivakumar, supporters of the movement said he was unnecessarily raking up non-issues for political gains in the upcoming bypolls for five seats, of which two – the Ballari Lok Sabha and the Jamakhandi assembly seats – are located in the state’s northern region.

Former minister and Congress leader MB Patil, who spearheaded the Lingayat movement, said it was not right for Shivakumar to make such public statements. “There is no question of the government interfering in religious matters and so there is no question of apologising. I don’t know in what context Shivakumar spoke. Secondly, no party was affected by the Lingayat separate religion status,” he said.

Patil also questioned Shivakumar’s assertion that the Lingayat move had backfired on the Congress. “He must also talk about how many seats he was able to help the party win in the Vokkaliga belt of Hassan, Mandya, Mysuru, Chamarajanagara and Kolar. It is not right to make such statements,” he said. The Congress fared poorly in the southern regions, especially in Mandya district, where the Janata Dal (Secular) won all seven seats.

“I don’t know why he has made such a statement. But these are issues that need to be discussed within the party. It not right to make public statements and to apologise for something that hasn’t happened is not right,” he added.

Lingayat seer Mate Mahadevi also criticised Shivakumar saying he should have expressed his opposition to the decision when it came before the previous Siddaramaiah government, as he too was a minister then. “It seems to be a statement made targeting leaders within his own party. If he did have such a strong feeling against it, he should have expressed it to the Cabinet when it was considering the move,” she said.

Other leaders of the movement also attacked Shivakumar, questioning his understanding of the law. “We asked for minority status because no government has the power to accord religion status. And the minister does not understand the law because only a government can accord minority status to a community,” said SM Jamdar, general secretary of the Jagatika Lingayat Mahasabha which was at the forefront of the movement.

Meanwhile, chief minister HD Kumaraswamy sought to distance himself from the controversy, pointing to the fact that the Congress-JD(S) government had so far not considered the issue in the past four months.

“This issue is not related to me. I have not held any discussions on this topic since the new government came into being nor did we review any of this,” he told reporters in Mysuru. “During the previous government, there were two opposing groups on this issue. I have stated it earlier as well, whenever there is an issue concerning religion, only religious heads should come together and resolve this. I maintain this statement,” he added.

Even state Congress working president Eshwar Khandre, who was a Cabinet minister in the previous government, said it was a personal opinion of Shivakumar, on which he had nothing to say. “I have made my views clear and there is no need to go into them once again. The minister expressed his personal opinion and I have no comment to make on this,” he said.