Mysuru: Over 1,500 youths from various Muslim organisations participated in Tipu Jayanti celebrations here on Tuesday. They raised slogans hailing the former Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan.
Mysuru District Minister Dr H.C. Mahadevappa quoted Dr B R Ambedkar and said, “Those who do not know history cannot create history.” He highlighted the contributions of Tipu saying he was a freedom fighter who was pro democracy, secular and a patriot, visionary and freedom fighter who strived for social harmony while following Sufism. Just because he was a Muslim, his contributions should not be forgotten. Those who are opposing the celebrations, are doing it only for political reasons. Opposing Tipu Jayanti is an insult to history,” he added.
Former Chairperson of Karnataka State Backward Classes Commission Dr H.C. Dwarakanath claimed that several progressive works initiated by Tipu were continued by then Maharaja Nalwadi Krishna Raja Wadiyar and former CM Devraj Urs. The blueprint of KRS dam was prepared during the reign of Tipu and he also introduced silk. Dr Dwarakanath sought a Tipu chair in the University of Mysuru and renaming Bengaluru Rural after Tipu.
Former MP Adagur H. Vishwanath came down heavily on BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje for claiming that Tipu killed Obavva. He said it was a myth. “BJP should focus on the issues of the poor and downtrodden instead of trying to spoil peace in society,” he said.
Forty BJP workers, including Mysuru MP Pratap Simha and former MLC G. Madusudhan, were detained while protesting near Mysuru DC’s office and were released later. Schemes and programmes of the state government under the Minorities department were printed in Urdu and distributed among people who participated in Tipu Jayanti in Mysuru.
