Members of the district unit of the Veerashaiva-Lingayat Samaja held a protest here on Sunday, demanding that the followers of Mate Mahadevi be arrested as they had shown disrespect to the Rambhapuri Renukacharya, seer of Balehonnur.
The protest was held at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Circle in the city.
The protestors said there was no difference between the terms Veerashaiva and Lingayat. The call for declaring Lingayat a separate religion was purely for political purposes.
They said efforts were being made to undermine the values of Hinduism.
There is a conspiracy to divide the Veerashaiva-Lingayat in the name of social reformer Basavanna. They criticised Mate Mahadevi for making baseless statements against the Rambhapuri seer.