<p>The Congress government would like to think of Tipu Sultan as a great freedom fighter and the BJP believes that he was nothing more than a religious bigot.<br /><br /></p>.<p> Historians and scholars who have studied the ruler and his life are, however, of the firm opinion that politicians should not get into such “black and white” debates as it would only make things problematic and lead to the whitewashing of facts. <br /><br />Speaking on ‘Tipu Sultan and the Re-fashioning of History’ at the Bangalore Literature Festival, 2016 here on Sunday, writer and historian, Vikram Sampath, who was part of a panel on the theme, laid the facts straight. <br /><br />“At the time of Tipu’s rule, there was no concept of India as a nation and secularism. At the same time, his social report card is not as glowing as is made it out to be. It becomes more problematic when politicians enter the fray and blow it out of proportion,” he said. <br /><br />Differing with the State government’s recent decision to celebrate November 10 as Tipu Jayanti, Sampath said, “At the least, I wish the government had got the date of birth of Tipu Sultan right, which according to historical records is November 20. If you want to glorify Tipu, you can do it by writing poetry or plays. Problem arises when the elected government uses taxpayers money for the event.” <br /><br />Referring to the controversy surrounding the naming of the Kempegowda International Airport after Tipu Sultan, Sampath said, “I think the issue of having a Metro rail link to the airport is more important to people than the naming of the airport.” <br /><br />Lending support to the view, Kannada folk writer Krishna Murthy Hanur said that the celebrations of such historical figures should be left to the judgement of individual committees. <br /><br />Stating that “Tipu’s legacy was crumbling,” Sampath said that rather than concentrating on issues such as the celebration of Tipu Jayanthi, the government should focus on things like restoring Tipu’s foundry and his palace in Srirangapatna that are in a state of “disarray”. <br /><br />Food and Civil Supplies Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao was of the opinion that had Tipu Sultan not been a Muslim, he would have easily been accepted as a freedom fighter from the State like Rani Chennamma and Sangolli Rayanna. He, however, conceded that no person in history was perfect including leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, who all had “shades of grey”.<br /><br />Tejasvi Surya, State secretary for Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, on the other hand said that “primary sources of history” clearly indicate that he was a Muslim fanatic who desecrated temples and forced conversions. <br /><br />“According to historian Lewis Rice, Tipu Sultan desecrated around 8,000 temples,” said Tejasvi.<br /><br /></p>
<p>The Congress government would like to think of Tipu Sultan as a great freedom fighter and the BJP believes that he was nothing more than a religious bigot.<br /><br /></p>.<p> Historians and scholars who have studied the ruler and his life are, however, of the firm opinion that politicians should not get into such “black and white” debates as it would only make things problematic and lead to the whitewashing of facts. <br /><br />Speaking on ‘Tipu Sultan and the Re-fashioning of History’ at the Bangalore Literature Festival, 2016 here on Sunday, writer and historian, Vikram Sampath, who was part of a panel on the theme, laid the facts straight. <br /><br />“At the time of Tipu’s rule, there was no concept of India as a nation and secularism. At the same time, his social report card is not as glowing as is made it out to be. It becomes more problematic when politicians enter the fray and blow it out of proportion,” he said. <br /><br />Differing with the State government’s recent decision to celebrate November 10 as Tipu Jayanti, Sampath said, “At the least, I wish the government had got the date of birth of Tipu Sultan right, which according to historical records is November 20. If you want to glorify Tipu, you can do it by writing poetry or plays. Problem arises when the elected government uses taxpayers money for the event.” <br /><br />Referring to the controversy surrounding the naming of the Kempegowda International Airport after Tipu Sultan, Sampath said, “I think the issue of having a Metro rail link to the airport is more important to people than the naming of the airport.” <br /><br />Lending support to the view, Kannada folk writer Krishna Murthy Hanur said that the celebrations of such historical figures should be left to the judgement of individual committees. <br /><br />Stating that “Tipu’s legacy was crumbling,” Sampath said that rather than concentrating on issues such as the celebration of Tipu Jayanthi, the government should focus on things like restoring Tipu’s foundry and his palace in Srirangapatna that are in a state of “disarray”. <br /><br />Food and Civil Supplies Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao was of the opinion that had Tipu Sultan not been a Muslim, he would have easily been accepted as a freedom fighter from the State like Rani Chennamma and Sangolli Rayanna. He, however, conceded that no person in history was perfect including leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, who all had “shades of grey”.<br /><br />Tejasvi Surya, State secretary for Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, on the other hand said that “primary sources of history” clearly indicate that he was a Muslim fanatic who desecrated temples and forced conversions. <br /><br />“According to historian Lewis Rice, Tipu Sultan desecrated around 8,000 temples,” said Tejasvi.<br /><br /></p>
