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Unrelenting Swamiji decides to press for nine other demands
Unrelenting Swamiji decides to press for nine other demands
“We are far from being satisfied…” this was the first reaction from the Billava religious leader Pranavananda Swamiji when Hans India asked him for his response to the Karnataka government’s announcement of the establishment and Narayanaguru Development Corporation by the Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday.
Mangaluru: "We are far from being satisfied…" this was the first reaction from the Billava religious leader Pranavananda Swamiji when Hans India asked him for his response to the Karnataka government's announcement of the establishment and Narayanaguru Development Corporation by the Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday.
"I consider this an eyewash, my cohorts in the community concur with me, this was just a ploy to confuse the community and weaken the movement of Billavas that has gathered critical mass in the last few days and a massive padayatra is on the verge of being launched on Friday between Mangalore and Bangalore," Pranavananda Swamiji told The Hans India in Mangalore on Thursday. If it was sincere about meeting the demands of the Billava and their Cohorts spread out in 11 states of India, the government could have done it long back with definitive measures and sizable funding, Pranavananda said.
The BJP was thriving on the coast due to the support of Billavas in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, Eedigas in Shivamogga and old Mysuru and Bayaluseeme and Namdharis in Uttara Kannada district. For some reasons, mainly the leadership of Narendra Modi the youth in the Billava and their cohort communities are attracted towards BJP. "We have a right to demand from the state BJP government and also from the centre as our community is a major voter from eleven states and we have our population in eleven states 1,200 MLAs and 125 MPs who get elected due to our votes," Pranavananda said. But yet we are not so petty to politicise the injustice done to our people by the governments but we have to attract their attention to the hardships, insecurity and uncertainties that dog our community he told.
Former Chief Minister S Siddaramiah visited the Kudroli Gokarnanatha temple where the Billavas were getting ready for Friday's event of the launch of Padayatra and was impressed with the kind of diligence that the community was showing towards unification. He had a brief chat with the leaders. It goes without saying that when the Billava and their cohort communities come together will be as big as the Vokkaligas and Kurbas if not bigger. They will also be on equal levels as Lingayats and Veerashaivas in the state.
