Lingayat, Vokkaliga, Karnataka and bloody politics!.

Lingavantha in Kannada, meaning 'one who wears Linga on their body'. . . . also known as Veerashaivism (Brave + Shaiv!) . . . It makes several departures from mainstream Hinduism . . . founded by Panchacharyas (Five prophets . . . five principles?) . . . Basavanna was a social reformer and a great humanitarian who was mainly responsible for reviving Veerashaiva religion in 12th Century . . . He travelled from his native Bagevadi to Kalyan . . . It is said that Basava, though born a brahmin, rebelled against the rigid practices of the caste system. Basavanna preached that the devotion of people to God was a direct relationship and did not need the intervention of the priestly class. Temple building is generally not practised among Lingayats.Lingayatism says that GOD has no specific form, name, place. He is omnipresent, unique, Kind and Friendly. Ishtalinga is worn on body. Any human being on earth can wear Ishtalinga initiated by Guru of Lingayat religion. Lingayatism does not make any partiality of humankind based on caste, creed, gender, language, country, or skin color. Everybody are equal in the eyes of GOD. Lingaytism stands for Fatherhood of GOD and Brotherhood of all Human beings, and compassion towards all living beings. While Hindus beieve that one's sins can be washed away by bathing in the Ganges river, Lingayats do not believe in such practices. They also do not believe in rituals and astrology. They believe in "Jangama (mobile) linga" carried in/on one's body as against "Sthavara (stationary) linga" such as in temples.


The Vokkaligas are other major caste or social group found mainly in the Old Mysore Region of southern Karnataka state. Tamil nadu they are known as Okkaligarand use Gowder as a title. The Vokkaliga belong to the Vaisya (cultivator - Yadav/ Baniya of north!) varna within Hinduism sometimes classified as satvic.



The Yelahankanadu Prabhus were Gowdas or tillers of the Land. They belonged to Morasu Vokkalu sect, the ancestors of which were migrants. Fourth in succession from Rana Bhairave Gowda, founder of the dynasty of Avati Nadu Prabhus and great grandson of Jaya Gowda, who established separate dynasty, is the famous Yelahanka Nadu Prabhus, Kempe Gowda I who ruled for 46 years commencing his reign from 1513. Jaya Gowda accepted the sovereignty of the Vijayanagar emperor and that termed the end of their empire.




The Lingayats and the Vokkaligas have been dominant in Karnataka since time immemorial and the tussle for power between these two communities is no secret. Karnataka has till date had five chief ministers from the Vokkaliga community, and six have been Lingayats. There were three CMs from the backward classes while Brahmins managed to hold the top spot in Karnataka twice.


 When B S Yeddyurappa was dumped by the Janata Dal-Secular barely a week after he assumed power, it was said it was not just a betrayal for the party, but of the entire Lingayat community.


H D Deve Gowda, saw that the support for Yeddyurappa was growing leaps and bounds. Initially Gowda took it easy as he had M P Prakash, a strong Lingayat leader, in his ranks. However, with Prakash parting ways and joining the Congress, Gowda realised that it was time he too used the caste card. Gowda decided to use the Vokkaliga card while making it clear that his community would rally behind the JD-S. The Congress too sensed that the elections would largely be fought on the caste factor and roped in S M Krishna, also a Vokkaliga leader, at the last minute.


The Vokkaligas, who comprise 15 per cent of the 5 crore-odd population of Karnataka, are spread mainly across Bangalore, Mandya, Hassan, Mysore, Kolar and Chikamagalur. The Lingayats comprise 17 per cent of the population of Karnataka and are dominant in the central and northern parts of Karnataka.



The Dalits in Karnataka comprise 23 per cent of the population, Kurubas 8 per cent while the Muslims make up 10 per cent. The rest of the population comprises Christians and others.

Bloody politics!

Dr. Ajay Kumar: New George Fernandes or Shankaracharya or Mahatma Gandhi!

Dr Ajay Kumar of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha won by a comfortable margin of 1,55,000 votes from Jamshedpur parliamentary seat. Dr Ajay Kumar is neither a tribal nor a Jharkhandi nor even a Bihari or north Indian. He is from Karnataka.

Biharis (despite of division from Bihar and making of Jharkhand) dominate in the constituency from where he has won the election. Jamshedpur has a metropolitan outlook with large population of people from different states. Still the city is basically dominated by the Biharis and they are the ones politically more active than any other group including tribes. Infact whole Jharkhand is nothing but an extension of Bihar.

                                    Dr Kumar won the election where every party had filled the candidate, due to his own good reputation. As an IPS officer he is said to have done good work. He served as the SP of Patna when riots took place in Patna City in 1990 which erupted after laying the foundation of the Rama Temple at the Babari Mosque site at Ayodhya. He was widely appreciated for the strict handling of communal riots. He was considered as close to the then chief minister of Bihar and now the RJD leader, Lalu Yadav due to this. Later he became the SP of East Singhbhum district––Jamshedpur. But ultimately in 1996 due to differences with the same political masters he resigned the job.

This win of Dr. Ajay Kumar known for his honesty, bravery and straightforwardness is another example of open mindedness of Biharis. Despite of recent attacks on Biharis in different parts of the country, Biharis still remain open to new ideas and new people.

This win of Dr. Kumar reminds me of few historical people specially those from southern states like Shakarcharya and George Fernandes who shot to fame from Bihar. Also we should not forget the role of Champaran in making of Mahatma Gandhi. And yes, even Chanakya was from Punjab and not from Bihar but could change the history as he came to Bihar!

Hindi Heartland of which Bihar has been always the axis, is being used by people from other parts of the world as a fertile land, has not been able to come out of its troubles for centuries. Even Nehru family who is still ruling the roots of the Indian politics is basically from Kashmir and could rule the country only due to and comfortably only till the support of the people from Hindi Heartland!
But no one has cared to improve the situation there.

Whats the reason?


This occasion also makes me cautious about the expectations. I think Hindi heartland will not see the light till we have our own people from the land to lead us. But it has not happened for centuries. Our leaders have only been happy by working as second fidal! After Lord Buddha and Mahavir, there has been no social churning in Bihar/ neighbouring Hindi heartland states. Neighbouring state of Bengal had people like Ramakrishna Paramhans, Vivekananda, Ram Mohan Roy, Rabindra Nath Tagore and Vidyasagar. But none from Hindi heartland! Perhaps its yet to come out of the curse by Sita that the land will never be able to stand for the son's of the soil or the forecast by lord Buddha still holds that the infightings will always trouble the land!
May god bless us with a lord Buddha, a Maurya . . .