Naming varsity after Tipu opposed

Various Catholic organisations in the City participated in a demonstration against naming the proposed university in Srirangapatna after Tipu Sultan.

Gathered at MG Road, around 500 Catholics demanded the government to name the university after Reverend Ferdinand Kittel. “Tipu Sultan was responsible for forcefully converting about 70,000 catholics from Udupi, Mangalore and Karwar to Islam,” said RTI activist, T J Abraham.

The demonstrators displayed banners urging authors, writers and litterateurs like U R Ananthmurthy, Girish Karnad, Prof G K Govinda Rao and Bargur Ramachandrappa to put pressure on the government on thier demand.

“Kittel wrote the first Kannada to English dictionary. How has Tipu contributed to the literature,  art and culture of Karnataka,”asked Abraham.

The protestors who are planning to submit a memorandum to the prime minister and also to AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi have threatened not to support Congress if their demands are not met.

“Over 500 Christians will travel from Karwar to Madikeri covering Udupi, Mangalore and other coastal areas during the upcoming Assembly elections seeking the christians of the coastal area to vote against the Congress,”said Abraham.

The protestors also added that the government can name the university after A P J  Abdul Kalam if they did not want it to be named after Kittel.