Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Thursday opposed the Karnataka government move to grant a separate religion status to the Lingayat community.
"We oppose identifying Lingayat as a separate religion," Paswan, the president of the Lok Janashakti party, told reporters here.
Paswan said Basavanna fought against untouchability which has earned him followers across the SC/ST communities. "By identifying Lingayat as a separate religion, the SC/ST followers stand to lose their rights under the reservation policy," the union minister said.
He said there were several sects within the Hindu religion and each cannot be recognised as a separate religion. The row over separate religion status for Lingayats has erupted ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah recommended religious minority status to the community.
Siddaramaiah has now left it to the Modi government to recognise Lingayats as a separate religion. The BJP, which enjoyed the support of the community, is in a fix and dubbed the move as a political ploy of the Congress ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections.
(Published 22 March 2018, 18:24 IST)