Row over Tipu Jayanti reignites in Karnataka after Cong MLA demands govt to organise it

Belagavi (Karnataka), Dec 9 (PTI) The row of Tipu Jayanti has reignited in Karnataka with a ruling Congress MLA Shivanand Kashappanavar, deciding to move a calling attention motion in the Karnataka Assembly to organise the birth anniversary of the 18th century Mysuru ruler.

During his previous tenure as Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah had started the tradition and then put a brake on it following widespread protests, including a violent one in Kodagu, where a man was killed in police firing.

After the protest, Tipu’s birth anniversary was celebrated as a low-key affair. Gradually, it was put on hold.

Now the Hungund MLA has once again raked it up. Kashappanavar wants the state to sponsor Tipu’s Jayanti, triggering a strong reaction from the opposition BJP, which has said that it will vehemently protest it.

Kashappanavar told reporters here that he has moved a proposal to organise Tipu Jayanti. We have to wait for the state government’s response.

His contention is that the BJP strongman B S Yediyurappa himself had put up Tipu’s attire and celebrated it.

"They celebrated it when they needed it. Now they don’t want it, but we want it to be held," the Congress MLA said.

According to him, Tipu was from Karnataka, who sacrificed everything for this state, including his family.

Reacting to it, the Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly told reporters, “Let them celebrate Tipu Jayanti, Osama bin Laden’s birth anniversary and Pakistan’s independence day. It’s their government. People will get to know whose favour they are in.

Karnataka Wakf and Housing Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan told reporters that he has been organising Tipu Jayanti.

"Tipu followers across the country have been organising Tipu Jayanti. We too organised it last month. Siddaramaiah used to organise it at the Banquet Hall of the Vidhana Soudha, which has now been stopped. Shouldn’t we organise it elsewhere after it was stopped?" he sought to know.

A section of people from Kodagu had opposed it, saying that Tipu had killed 16,000 Kodavas on a single day.

Similarly, some Christians from Mangaluru opposed such events, saying that the Mysuru ruler was brutal to their ancestors.

The Mandyam Iyengars, too, stopped celebrating Deepavali as Tipu’s army had allegedly butchered 600 of them over suspicion that one of them tipped off British forces against him. PTI GMS GMS ADB