Mysuru: Noted Kannada writer and literary critic Prof. Chandrashekar Patil, popular as Champa, has said that Lingayat is a separate religion and minority status must be accorded as per the Constitution and as per legal provisions to the religion. Champa, who has been designated as the President of the three-day 83rd Akhila Bharatha Kannada Sahitya Sammelana, was interacting with media persons at Pathrakarthara Bhavan yesterday. He said that till now there is no clarity on the word Hindu and as such Vedic religion can be attributed to it. Likewise, Lingayats and Veerashaivas are not branches of Hinduism and Lingayats deserve a separate status like Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, he opined. He said that Veerashaivas are creating confusion over a separate community for Lingayats. “Rambhapuri Swamiji and Virakta Mutt pontiffs are in confusion. Hindu means Rightists and Lingayats mean Leftists, but, Veerashaiva is in between. There is no confusion between Rightists and Leftists. There is no clarity about Hindu community. I am proud to tell that I am a Lingayat. Lingayats must get minority status,” Patil added. “Though I believe in the ideologies of Left wing, there should be an interaction between the Right and Left wings,” he said. He blamed BJP State President B.S. Yeddyurappa and said that he had joined Yeddyurappa as he had floated Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP), a regional party. But he rejoined the BJP after the elections. He betrayed the voters.
State-wide tour
