Am not attempting to divide any religion, says Siddaramaiah

Amidst raging differences onthe issue of separate religion status to Veerashivas/Lingayats, Karnataka Chief Minister today said he was not making any attempts to divide any religion.
"I'm not attempting to divide religion. Five (forums) of themhave given petitions, I have sent the five petitions to the(state) minorities commission," he told reporters at Hubbali in north Karnataka.
Veerashaiva/Lingayat is a numericallystrong and politically-influential community concentrated largely in the northern part of Karnataka and pays allegiance to the 12th century "social reform movement"initiated by philosopher Basaveshwara.
Siddaramaiahsaid Veerashiva Mahasabha says they want a separate religion,but it should be Veerashiva-Lingayata dharma, while Lingayatsmaintain they want only Lingayat dharma.

"What should I do, tell me? As a government, as theyhave given the petition, with responsibility, I have referredall the petitions to the minority commission," he added.
Siddaramaiah's comments come a day after seers and

representatives of Veerashiva tradition at a rally yesterday reiterated their stand that Veerashaiva and Lingayats were oneand the same and attempts todivide the community should be thwarted.
They also demanded dissolution of a seven-member committee set up to study the demand for separate religion status, with some even terming it as a move for political gains keeping 2018 assembly polls in mind.
The Karnataka State Minorities Commission (KSMC) has formedthe committee, headed by retired high court judge HN Nagamohan Das, to look into the issue and submit a report withinfour weeks.

The committee will be examining three petitions demanding separate minority religion for Lingayats, one petition arguing that they are Hindus and the other one by the Akhila Bharata Veerashaiva Mahasabha that demands minority religion tag for Veerashaiva-Lingayat together.
The demand for a separate religion tag to Veerashaiva/Lingayat faiths has surfaced amidst resentment from within over projecting the two sects as the same.
The VeerashaivaMahasabha' assertsthat Veerashaiva and Lingayats are the same, the other group wantsthe separate religion tag only for Lingayats.
The latter believes that Veerashaiva is oneamong the seven sects of Shaivas, which is part of Hinduism.
The BJP and several sections of the Hindu communityhave maintained a cautious stance keeping away from the move to give Veerashaiva/Lingayat separate religion status.

They have accused the Siddaramaiah government of dividing the society to draw political mileage ahead of assembly elections due early next year.