CM inaugurates all-faith conference in Rabkavi

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah inaugurated an all-faith conference in Dasoharathna Chakravarthi Basava Gopal Daneshwar Bandigani Math in Rabkavi of Bagalkot district on Monday.

He gave a call to all to shun hatred and develop feelings of love and tolerance for all castes and religions. This will lead to harmonious living and world peace, he said.

“Differences between different faith groups and castes have been there since the beginning. However, we should learn to look beyond them and love all, irrespective of our differences,” he said.

“We are all human beings. Is the blood of Hindus and Muslims different? If we get sick, we ask for blood from anyone. We will accept blood of any religion to save our lives. Do we ask for blood from our caste and religion? Is this justice? Is it religion then?” he asked.

“Did I apply and ask to be born in the Kuruba caste? My father and mother are Kurubas. That is why I am a Kuruba too. I am basically a human being. That applies to all,” he said.

“The caste system created slavery. The Shudra castes internalised it. They developed feelings of inferiority. We respect a person from the upper castes even if he is uneducated but look down upon an educated man from the deprived classes. This needs to change. We need to respect everyone equally,” he said.

“Education teaches us to live with self-respect,” he said. He gave examples of Sage Valmiki, author of the Ramayana, Maharishi Vyasa, the author of the Mahabharata, and B.R. Ambedkar, chairman of the Constitution drafting committee, “who all came from the deprived communities, but achieved their potential due to education”.

“Some educated people have ignorance and blind belief. What then is the purpose of education? If some people are poor or uneducated, it is because they did not get proper opportunities. In the olden days, nearly 85% of the population could not get access to Sanskrit education. This included women from the upper castes too. However, in the modern times, with liberal democracies, education has been made universally accessible.” he said.

He said that despite initial efforts by reformers like the Buddha and Basavanna, the ills of caste hierarchy have remained.

“No matter how many years have passed, has caste and class gone? Has inequality gone? This inequality will not go anywhere; economic, educational, social inequality will not go,” he said.

“Poet Kuvempu said that our State is a garden of peace for all. But is that true? Why is there unrest? Society should be a garden for everyone. We should strive towards it,” he said.

“The person who threw a shoe at the Chief Justice of India believes in the Sanatan ideology. We should realise that no religion teaches hatred. But we should ask ourselves whether a lawyer who throws a shoe at the judge be let off and his act ignored? We should all condemn this. Otherwise, how can peace be achieved? Everyone should be able to live together. Our goal is to build an inclusive society. We have made programs for the poor of all castes in our government,” he claimed.

Minister R.B. Thimmapura said that social evils like untouchability and inequality continue to plague Hinduism. “If Basava Dharma gets recognition, I will record my religion as Basava Dharma instead of Hindu religion,” he claimed.

Jamaat Ahle Sunnat State president Hazrat Mohammed Tanveer Hashmi said that throwing a shoe at a Supreme Court judge is like throwing a shoe at the Constitution and the Tricolour. “There is widespread hatred among some communities across the world. We should fight it with love,” he said.

Chakravarti Daneshwara Swami of Sri Basavagopala Neelamanika Math, Munikularatna Bhushan Maharaja of Bhadragiri, MLC Umashree, MLAs Vijayananda Kashappanavar and Bhimasen Chimmanakkatti, State Industries and Infrastructure Development Corporation Chairman S.G. Nanjayyana Math, the former MLA Ananda Nyamagouda and others were present.