Bengaluru: Chief minister Siddaramaiah Friday clarified that the state govt’s caste and community survey is intended to gather scientific data on the social and educational status of the population and not to designate or declare religions of the respondents.He made the remarks while responding to concerns raised over a community’s leaders encouraging their members to identify their religion as ‘Lingayat’ or ‘Veerashaiva Lingayat’ in the survey.“The survey is not aiming to declare any religion. They can give whatever details (about their religion) during the survey and the committee will take the data,” Siddaramaiah stated.The religion column in the survey questionnaire lists 11 options, including seven major religions—Hindu, Islam, Christian, Jain, Sikh, Buddhist, and Parsi—and four additional categories: atheist, not known, refused to disclose, and others (specify). Officials said respondents whose religion is not listed can choose ‘others’ and specify their faith.Siddaramaiah also addressed questions on how converted Christians would be classified. “If a person has converted to Christianity and practices it, they will be recognized as Christian,” he said.The chief minister clarified the inclusion of caste identifiers such as Christian Brahmin, Christian Lingayat, Christian Kuruba, and Christian Vokkaliga in the questionnaire. “If anyone declares Christian Kuruba and practices Christianity, it will be considered as Christian,” he added.Opposition BJP has accused the Congress govt of creating caste categories within the Christian community to encourage conversions and divide Hindus. MLC and opposition chief whip N Ravikumar questioned the inclusion of 47 new caste names such as Kuruba Christian, Lingayat Christian, and Vokkaliga Christian.“Are Christians aware of these 47 castes? Has the govt notified these to promote conversions?” he asked. Ravikumar alleged a conspiracy to weaken Hindu unity and demanded immediate clarification from Siddaramaiah’s govt. He claimed the move was aimed at “religious and social fragmentation.”
