Independent religion: Fresh challenge awaits Lingayat movement
The Lingayat independent religion debate has been reopened with new government firmly in place. Last government had sent a proposal to central government to grant independent religion status to Lingayat dharma which sought to free itself from being part of Hindu dharma. Though this independent dharma cry had taken centrestage in the last elections, it did not yield any major advantage to Congress. Sangh Parivar was bent upon defeating the Congress led by former CM Siddaramaiah, only to land a severe blow to the Lingayat issue.
BJP went to streets alleging Siddaramaiah was bent upon splitting the Hindu dharma. Veerashaivas who were opposed to Lingayat dharma getting an independent tag, supported BJP. But the Lingayats who saw BJP damaging their cause, didn’t have enough clarity to stand against that party. Lingayat leaders failed to convey the differences of opinion between RSS and the basics of Lingayat dharma. Some Lingayat Swamijis openly vouched their support for Congress for having initiated the process relating to independent religion, but this didn’t turn into votes. This is certainly a minor setback. Congress is not even in a state to respond to this issue right now since the Congress party is not under control of Siddaramaiah. Other leaders who are leading Congress from the front do not want to meddle with this issue since they have surrendered their senses and logic to Brahminical forces. CM HD Kumaraswamy has made his objection to the issue of independent religion pretty evident. He had lacked total understanding of Basavanna’s philosophy and had made light of ‘independent religion’ tag by mentioning even vokkaligas may seek a separate religion tag. HDK is known for his lenience towards brahminical practices and swamijis of that community. Hence he cannot be expected to do anything in this regard.
Brahminical minds have already mislead Lingayat youths against their very core rationale. RSS has realized any independent thinking Lingayat can be a danger to their ‘hindutva’ agenda. Hence the proposal sent from state to centre regarding this issue has been shelved for now. And BJP chief Amit Shah had categorically said they’d not encourage the splitting of dharma under this guise. Hence Lingayats in favor of different dharma cannot expect any encouraging response from BJP at the moment.
This is a good opportunity to convince people about the genesis of this movement. Now that this issue has nothing to do with any impending elections, unlike last time, Lingayat leaders across parties – BJP, JD(S) and Congress – have to work towards this goal. Former minister MB Patil is trying hard to find a space for himself in the new government. Looks like Congress party has planned to maintain distance from those leaders who took part in this separate dharma campaign. With no help coming by, Lingayat leaders have to carry the message of their efforts to their people, without waiting for any approval from their counterparts of party chiefs.
Lingayat is the most genuine and organic religion that was born in Karnataka. It has an independent identity. It is devoid of idolatry, temple visits and has no agents between self and god. The Lingayats do not ever rely on Brahmins or their rituals for any purpose. This was established in 12 century by Basavanna. Today when Lingayat dharma has lost its identity coming under the influence of Brahminical practices and supremacy, it is time to take Basavanna’s message to every Lingayat dharma follower and create awareness about the faith system that’s a pride of every follower. This would also be the resistance exhibited by Lingayat to Brahminical practices. For this purpose, every political reason apart, this state has to own up its religious off shoot, honouring the tradition of this land.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
