Lingayat Veershaiva row: Panel formed to decide on the religion tag

Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Minorities Commission (KSMC), has formed a seven-member committee, led by retired high court judge H.N. Nagamohan Das, to look into the demands for a minority religion tag for the Lingayat and Veerashaiva faiths. The official notification of the committee will be out on Saturday, sources said.

The committee includes former chairman of the Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission C.S. Dwarkanath; political scientist Muzaffar Assadi; head of the Kannada Language Chair at JNU Purushottam Bilimale; chairman of Kannada Development Authority S.G. Siddaramaiah; and journalist Saraju Katkar, among its members.

The committee will be handed over five petitions the KSMC has got over the issue three demanding separate minority religion for Lingayats, one arguing they are Hindus, and the last by the Akhila Bharata Veerashaiva Mahasabha, which argues they are not Hindus, but demand minority religion tag for Veerashaiva-Lingayat.