Karnataka textbook revision row | Lingayats warn of statewide agitation

KALABURAGI:

Condemning the misrepresentation of Basaveshwara in the Class IX Social Science textbook, members of the Jagatika Lingayata Mahasabha staged a demonstration in Kalaburagi on Saturday.

The protesters raised slogans against the textbook revision committee and demanded Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai distribute the textbooks, only after correcting the mistakes.

“In the revised textbook text, it is written that Basaveshwara moved to Kudalasangama after his Upanayana. It is wrong. He refused Upanayana by stating that the ceremony was denied to his sister and moved to Kudalasangama. It is written that Basaveshwara was offered Linga Diksha by a Shaiva guru. It is also a wrong representation of Basaveshwara’s life, because Shaiva gurus believe in Stavara Linga worship and they cannot give Ishta Linga Diksha to Basaveshwara. Ishta Linga was, in fact, a brainchild of Basaveshwara himself,” Prabhulinga Mahagaonkar, district president of Jagatika Lingayata Mahasabha, said during the agitation.

“The revised textbook lesson says that Basaveshwara developed the Veerashaiva faith. it is wrong as Veerashaiva might be a branch in Lingayat religion. Now, it is listed as one of the sects of Lingayat religion. It is therefore wrong to say that Basaveshwara developed or reformed the Veerashaiva faith,” R.G. Shetagar, general secretary of the district unit of the organisation, said.

The Lingayat leaders demanded the State government correct the contents of the textbook and revise them to reflect the actual history of Basaveshwara and Lingayats before distributing them among students.

“If the government fails to correct the misrepresentation of Basaveshwara in the textbooks, the Statewide agitation might be an inevitable move,” Ravindra Shabadi, another leader of the organisation, said.

Writer R.K. Hudgi, Hyderabad Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry secretary Sharanu Pappa, and others were present.