‘Tipu is a son of the soil’: BJP MLC Vishwanath courts controversy

Politics

Vishwanath was answering a query regarding the Karnataka government’s decision to remove chapters on Tipu Sultan from the Class 5 syllabus.

TNM Staff

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BJP MLC AH Vishwanath stirred a hornet's nest on Wednesday for praising Tipu Sultan, equating him with freedom fighter Sangoli Rayanna. Vishwanath, who was the former JD(S) President, went on to call Tipu Sultan a son of the soil.  Vishwanath was answering a query regarding the Karnataka government’s decision to remove chapters on Tipu from the Class 5 textbook, as a means of reducing the syllabus in the wake of the pandemic. "Tipu belongs to no party or religion, but is a son of the soil. The chapter on him has only moved to class seven from class five, and not been removed," he told reporters.   He was an MLA from Nanjangud constituency in Mysuru district until 2019.  Vishwanth was among the 17 ruling MLAs of the Congress-JD(S)  in the erstwhile HD Kumaraswamy government, who resigned and defected to the BJP, paving the way for the BS Yediyurappa government to come to power. However, Vishwanath went on to lose the December 2019 bye-election and was later made an MLC by the BJP. The BJP and the Congress have in recent years tussled over the subject of Tipu Sultan. While the Congress has championed Tipu Sultan, calling him a freedom fighter who fought the British, the BJP has chosen to label him as a despot and a tyrant who destroyed Hindu temples during his rule.The BJP has in the past alleged that the Congress championed Tipu merely to gain the Muslim vote bank. The issue gained prominence when in 2013, then Chief Minister Siddaramiaah began the tradition of commemorating Tipu Jayanti, a formal state celebration, under the Department of Kannada and Culture. BJP and other Hindu nationaist organisations since then have been vehemently opposed to the idea of celebrating Tipu in any form be it celebrating his birth anniversary or naming a train. Soon after coming to power, current CM BS Yediyurappa cancelled the state celebration of the event on November 10.  However it  had been reported prior to 2013, some BJP leaders had celebrated Tipu Jayanti with the same fervour as the Congress and other political outfits. In 2012 during BSY’s previous tenure as CM, the Department of Kannada and Culture had published a book titled Tipu Sultan – A Crusader for Change. 

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