Bengaluru: The ongoing controversy on the Government of Karnataka’s celebration of Tipu Jayanti is a needless misadventure by the state government. There are many dimensions we need to explore to arrive at why this is a misadventure and it is important for us to understand these nuances before taking for or against position.
From a timing perspective, the government’s action of celebrating Tipu Sultan’s Jayanti on November 10 is quite strange, given the much widely accepted birth date of November 20, 1750. While getting the birthday wrong of a historical figure born over 265 years ago by 10 days should not cause much of a concern, the fact remains that it was during Deepavali festival when over 700 supporters and loyalists of the Mysore Wadiyar queen Rani Lakshmi Ammani were butchered during the festival. The deep scars are still fresh in that community who even to this date do not celebrate the festival.
Who does the CM of Karnataka represent is a very pertinent question. Does he want to represent the people of Mysore and Bengaluru who have benefited with many reforms ranging from land revenue reforms, improvising the Mysore silk, inventing the lethal Mysorean rockets, nationalising sandal wood sales to giving interest free agricultural loans which were pro-subjects in his kingdom. How can one miss the development of Lalbagh by the father and son duo which is a landmark tourist destination for both foreign and Indian tourists? Alas as CM of Karnataka, he also represents the regions of Kodagu, Mangalore and Sira which have been at the receiving end of Tipu’s expansion zeal. While the then predominantly Hindu region of Kodagu bore the butchering of Tipu’s forces and forcible conversions, in Mangalore, thousands of Syrian Christians were killed or forcibly converted to Islam. Chitradurga, Sira and many other small provinces too were annexed with the tactics and strategies prevalent at those times. Onakke Obavva fighting Hyder Ali’s army valiantly is a very popular folklore in Chitradurga even today. If we go a little beyond Karnataka, we get similar stories from Malabar, Travancore rulers as well as Marathas.
Which era of our history should the state celebrate is the next important question. As eminent historian Ramachandra Guha says, “Government must not celebrate monarchs from the past. Their value systems might have been apt for their times. However are they aligned to our present value systems? We having resolved to constitute our nation into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC, it is important the choice of heroes whom we want to celebrate and show as icons of India for future generations need much care and statesmanship.”
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s desire to project Tipu Sultan as an icon for Karnataka was quite evident from the early days of his tenure. Karnataka’s Republic Day float last year was a rich tribute to Tipu Sultan. While the debate began then but in a more manageable tone, it was hotly debated with many contemporary authors going to the extent of writing about Karnataka’s love hate relationship with Tipu Sultan. In the piece titled “Why we love to hate Tipu Sultan” by Vikram Sampath, he calls Tipu, a bundle of contradictions, and an enigma and a modern historian’s biggest puzzle. He goes on to say something very pertinent even today - “In our zeal to be on the right or left of Indian politics, we have thrust Tipu (and other rulers like him) to the scrutiny of “Secularism”, “Communalism” and “Nationalism”—terms that were non-existent in 18th century India. Judging characters of the past by the yardsticks and definitions of today is being grossly unfair to them because the facts don’t fit our straightjacket.”
It is very pertinent for the government to make some tough choices rather than seemingly nice superficial choices such as Tipu Sultan Jayanti. Let people, academicians, historians resolve the different interpretations of these historical times and the government should focus its energy on the important business of running the state. Even when the state introduced Valmiki and Kanakadasa Jayanthi, there was little opposition as there was very less to take objection to their misdeeds.
The fact that Valmiki Jayanthi is a tribute to the author of Ramayana a major Hindu scripture is not contested as pandering to one religion. It is important for the government to choose more widely acceptable reformers and statesmen and women whose contributions stand the test of present times. The developmental challenges affecting Karnataka are numerous and needless controversies such as these take away crucial bandwidth of the Cabinet and bureaucracy from the job of running the state. The developmental deficits within the state between different regions of Karnataka need urgent focus. The recent controversy surrounding the setting up of IIT in Karnataka has the underlying belief that justice is being denied to some parts of the state. When over 65% of Karnataka’s tax revenue originates from Bengaluru there is so much to develop the rest of the state economically. Economic Decentralization to Mangaluru, Bidar, Kalaburagi, Chitradurga, Mysuru, Tumakuru and Kolar must seize the government’s imagination.
Going forward the state should let go of the men and women of the past and rededicate itself to development needs of the state and look for landmarks that celebrate milestones in the fields of Infant Mortality, Maternal Mortality, Malnourishment, Universal Primary Education, Skill development, Scientific, Art, Technological feats that bring relief to fellow Indians. Making each and every Indian a full contributing member of our nation building activity is where Government’s passion, energy and most importantly public funds need to channelised into.
The demographic dividend must be handled responsibly by the current state and central governments less they end up becoming demographic disaster because of misplaced priorities and choices.
The writer is CEO of Namma Bengaluru Foundation (The views expressed in the article are of the individual and not the organisation)
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