Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at the closing ceremony of the 'Basava Culture Campaign-2025.'
Credit: X/@siddaramaiah
Bengaluru: The call for a separate religion for Lingayats reverberated on Sunday, as Lingayat seers and leaders passed a five-point resolution on creating awareness about the Lingayat religion.
The resolution was passed during the Basava Samskruthi Abhiyaan, 2025, an event attended by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Large and Medium Industries Minister M B Patil and so on.
“The ideology of Basavanna is different and the religion is different. Basavanna’s religion is necessary for the entire world. There must be a struggle for Lingayat religion,” retired High Court Judge H N Nagamohan Das said.
Basavalinga Pattadevaru of the Bhalki Hirematt also batted for the separate religion status for Lingayats. “Because of Siddaramaiah, the separate religion call for Lingayats has got recognition. Eventually, the union government will also agree to it. No one can stop it.”
Speaking on the occasion, Siddaramaiah called himself an “ardent fan” of 12th century social reformer Basavanna, adding that the idea behind the five flagship guarantee schemes of the Congress was Basavanna’s philosophy itself.
“Ever since I was a law student, I was inculcated the thoughts of Basavanna. Throughout his life, Basavanna preached about coexistence and tolerance. Opposing a motion-less caste system, Basavanna created a new religion. He sought to create a fraternal society devoid of caste and class. Basavanna’s teachings are always eternal and relevant.”
Stating that there are many castes and religions, the chief minister said: “We are all Shudras. We are in the fourth position in the Chaturvarna system. Whatever the caste may be, we must realise that we are all Shudras…”
‘Basavanna’s name for Namma Metro’
Siddaramaiah announced that the state government would recommend to the Union government to name Namma Metro after 12th century social reformer Basavanna.
“If this had been purely a project of the state government, I would’ve announced today itself to name it as Basava metro. However, since Union government’s permission is also needed, we will write to them.”
‘Struggle for Lingayat religion’
Former High Court Judge HN Nagamohan Das reiterated the call for a separate religion status to Lingayats.
“The ideology of Basavanna is different and the religion is different. Basavanna’s religion is necessary for the entire world. There must be a struggle for Lingayat religion,” Justice Das said.
Basavalinga Pattadevaru of the Bhalki Hirematt also batted for the separate religion status for Lingayats. “Because of Siddaramaiah, the separate religion call for Lingayats has got recognition. Eventually, the union government will also agree to it. No one can stop it.”