Basavanna envisaged parliamentary democracy much before Magna Carta: PM

BENGALURU: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who laid the foundation stone for a new Parliament complex in New Delhi on Thursday, spoke in Kannada and made a reference to 12th-century social reformer Basavanna and the Anubhava Mantapa set up by him in Bidar district.
He delved into India’s democratic history and said the texts available in Parliament are older than the Magna Carta which is considered the foundation of democracy.“Magna Carta was written in the 13th century, but Basavanna envisioned a public parliament in the 12th century in the form of Anubhava Mantapa,” he said.
The Anubhava Mantapa in Basavakalyan, the abode of great mysticism, spiritual awakening and religious discourse, emerged as a fountainhead of egalitarian renaissance in the 12th century and is regarded as the genesis of parliamentary democracy in Indian history.
In 2015, Modi had unveiled Basavanna’s statue on the banks of Thames river in London during his visit there to commemorate the millennium of the philosopher. Late Tumakuru mutt seer Shivakumara Swami had laid the foundation stone for it in February 2013.
“We hold the Magna Carta in high esteem and use it to quote on democratic principles. Much before Magna Carta and 700 years before Abraham Lincoln propagated the same issues, Basavanna had mooted it,” Modi had said in his brief speech. Modi had also invoked the social reformer, who is worshipped by Lingayats, during his campaigns in Karnataka for the assembly and Lok Sabha polls.
Chief minister BS Yediyurappa virtually participated in the function on Thursday.