<div align="justify">Retired IAS officer S M Jaamdar, who is spearheading the movement for a separate religion tag for the Lingayat faith, on Friday challenged Pejawar Mutt pontiff Vishwesha Tirtha Swami for a debate on why Lingayats are different from Hindus.<br /><br />Vishwesha Tirtha Swami had said Lingayats were also Hindus as they worshipped Lord Shiva and they should stay within the Hindu religion. “This is the second time in the past three months that the seer has commented on the Lingayat movement. He should know that Lingayats were never part of the Hindu religion in the first place,” Jaamdar told a press conference here.<br /><br />“Unlike the Hindu Shiva, the Lingayat Shiva is formless. Our Shiva is not worshipped in temples and there are no priests. The Hindu Shiva is one of the Trinity (along with Brahma and Vishnu), whereas there’s no such concept for Lingayats. There are Gods in Hindu Puranas and Vedas, which Lingayats don’t accept. The Hindu Shiva has wives and sons. Our Shiva is not a family man. There’s no concept of heaven and hell or rebirth in Lingayats,” Jaamdar said. <br /><br />“The Pejawar Mutt swami should know this. Else, let him fix a time and date for a dialogue on this,” he added.<br /><br />Jaamdar conjectured that journalist Gauri Lankesh may have been killed because she lent support to the Lingayat religion movement. “This is my suspicion,” he said, adding Gauri to the list of two other Lingayats who were also murdered — scholar M M Kalburgi and writer Linganna Satyampet. “There’s a threat to my life as well and the police department has given me security cover,” he said.</div>
<div align="justify">Retired IAS officer S M Jaamdar, who is spearheading the movement for a separate religion tag for the Lingayat faith, on Friday challenged Pejawar Mutt pontiff Vishwesha Tirtha Swami for a debate on why Lingayats are different from Hindus.<br /><br />Vishwesha Tirtha Swami had said Lingayats were also Hindus as they worshipped Lord Shiva and they should stay within the Hindu religion. “This is the second time in the past three months that the seer has commented on the Lingayat movement. He should know that Lingayats were never part of the Hindu religion in the first place,” Jaamdar told a press conference here.<br /><br />“Unlike the Hindu Shiva, the Lingayat Shiva is formless. Our Shiva is not worshipped in temples and there are no priests. The Hindu Shiva is one of the Trinity (along with Brahma and Vishnu), whereas there’s no such concept for Lingayats. There are Gods in Hindu Puranas and Vedas, which Lingayats don’t accept. The Hindu Shiva has wives and sons. Our Shiva is not a family man. There’s no concept of heaven and hell or rebirth in Lingayats,” Jaamdar said. <br /><br />“The Pejawar Mutt swami should know this. Else, let him fix a time and date for a dialogue on this,” he added.<br /><br />Jaamdar conjectured that journalist Gauri Lankesh may have been killed because she lent support to the Lingayat religion movement. “This is my suspicion,” he said, adding Gauri to the list of two other Lingayats who were also murdered — scholar M M Kalburgi and writer Linganna Satyampet. “There’s a threat to my life as well and the police department has given me security cover,” he said.</div>
