Only Centre has the authority to conduct caste census, not states: Veerasomeshwara Swamiji

Davangere:Veerasomeshwara Swamiji of the Rambhapuri Peetha in Balehonnur stated on Monday that only the central government has the authority to conduct a caste census, not the state governments.

Addressing a press conference, the seer said that while the central government has decided to include caste data along with the national census, the Karnataka state government has also announced plans to carry out a separate caste-based survey combined with socio-economic data.

Swamiji alleged that some political leaders are trying to divide the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community into sub-sects for political gains. “This is a deliberate attempt to mislead people and break the unity of our community,” he said, warning that such divisive efforts had failed in the past and would not succeed in the future either.

He reaffirmed that the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community would remain united and that attempts to divide it through caste-based classifications would be firmly resisted.

The Swamiji welcomed the caste census to be conducted along with the national population census by the central government, a move that has also received unanimous support from Panchapeethadheeshas and the Akhila Bharata Veerashaiva-Lingayat Mahasabha.

He also endorsed the recent announcement by the Mahasabha’s national president, Shamanur Shivashankarappa, who said the Mahasabha would conduct a separate enumeration of the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community.

Emphasising unity, Veerasomeshwara Swamiji said that Veerashaiva and Lingayat are one and the same. “Veerashaiva is a philosophical term, while Lingayat is a commonly used term. There is no distinction between the two as per the Panchacharyas,” he explained.

He urged all members of the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community, including all sub-sects, to record themselves as ‘Veerashaiva-Lingayat’ during the caste enumeration to demonstrate solidarity.