Former MLC Mohan Limbikai has issued a pressing call to the Akhila Bharat Veerashaiva Lingayat Mahasabha. He implores them to promptly convene a meeting with all leaders and spiritual seers from various sub-castes within the Veerashaiva Lingayat community. The goal is to reach a unified decision on how members should accurately represent themselves in the ongoing social and educational survey, thereby dispelling current confusion.
In a public statement released on Tuesday, Mr. Limbikai stressed the vital importance of projecting solidarity rather than succumbing to minor disagreements. Now is the time, he asserted, for the community to demonstrate its collective strength.
Mr. Limbikai voiced deep concern regarding recent statements from certain caste organizations. These groups are reportedly advising community members to identify themselves with “Hindu” prefixes, such as Hindu Ganiga, Hindu Banajiga, Hindu Sadar, Hindu Jangama, Hindu Reddy, and similar designations.
He warned that adopting such ‘Hindu’ prefixes while omitting ‘Veerashaiva’ or ‘Lingayat’ could significantly diminish the community’s official population figures. He pointed out that a similar misstep in a previous survey led to a drastic reduction of the community’s recorded strength from 1.5 crore to just 66 lakh in the Kantharaju Commission’s report.
“It is undeniable,” Mr. Limbikai declared, “that the Veerashaiva Lingayat community is destined to achieve independent religious status. We must stand together in this fight. However, focusing solely on narrow caste identities for the sake of reservation is a grave error. Such a fragmented approach could reduce our community’s population to a mere 30 to 40 lakh, pushing us into a minority status.”
The former MLC earnestly appealed to all community leaders to ensure members identify primarily as ‘Lingayat’ in the survey’s main caste column, followed by their specific sub-caste in the relevant secondary field.