Descendents of Tipu mull legal action against Hedge

A tweet by Union Minister of State for Skill Development Anantkumar Hegde has irked the descendants of Tipu Sultan here so much that they are mulling legal action against the minister for his comments.

The descendants said on Monday they are not only deeply pained by the minister’s tweet, but are also feeling humiliated.

“We will convene a meeting of all our family members and then take a collective decision on how to act against such unfounded comments against Tipu Sultan by an Union Minister. Hedge’s derogatory remarks are simply unacceptable. We will take legal action against him. He has not only defamed the Tiger of Mysore and a national hero, he has leveled baseless allegations and tarnished the image of Tipu Sultan,” said Bakhtiar Ali, a lawyer and one of the sixth generation descendants of Prince Mooniruddin, who was one of Tipu Sultan’s sons.

Prince Mooniruddin and Prince Golam Muhammed were two of Tipu’s sons who were deported to Kolkata by the British.

Hedge, in a tweet on October 21, had allegedly called Tipu Sultan a mass rapist, wretched fanatic and a brutal killer.  

In a letter to the Karnataka government, the Union Minister had informed not to include his name on the list of invitees for the programmes scheduled on November 10 to mark Tipu Sultan Jayanti.

Read more: Will disclose history of Tipu if my name is printed on invitation: Ananth Kumar

Another descendant of Tipu Sultan, Shahid Alam, said Hedge should tender an unconditional apology for his derogatory remarks against the 18th century ruler of Mysore.

“We are extremely shocked and hurt by his comments, This is really unfortunate. He should take a look at the writings of historians who have analysed Tipu Sultan threadbare and have concluded what a noble king he was,” Alam, a co-trustee of the Wakf estate of Prince Golam Mohammed, said. 

Read also: Don't include me in Tipu Jayanthi invite: minister