Jnanpith awardee apologises after a storm of protest

Author and playwright Girish Karnad, who stirred a controversy with his remark that the Bengaluru International Airport should have been named after Tipu Sultan, on Wednesday said he has been misrepresented.

Karnad, who apologised saying, “If somebody was hurt by my remarks, I apologise..,” told Deccan Herald that he was not seeking renaming of Kempegowda International Airport now. “It would be too ‘stupid’ to think of renaming the airport now. What I said was that it could have been named after Tipu Sultan as Devanahalli is his birth place,” he said.

“The Kolkata airport is named after Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, the Mumbai one after Chatrapati Shivaji. It could have been named after the warrior here too, specially because the airport came up in Devanahalli, his birth place.”

He added that he had made this suggestion even before the naming of the international airport. Due recognition has been given to Kempegowda in several other instances, he said.  
As for the state government observing Tipu Jayanti, he said he held no personal opinion about it. “I do not celebrate birthdays. I do not believe in it. I have nothing to say about the government celebrating it. However, I personally like Tipu. I have even written a play called The Dream of Tipu Sultan,” he added.