Digging Masjid may give temple, digging temple gives Stupa: Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge

Praising Tipu Sultan as a freedom fighter, he contrasted Tipu's efforts with the RSS, adding that the RSS didn't even raise a "small voice" against the British.

Bengaluru: Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge on Sunday lashed out at attempts to "dig history," stating that "digging any Masjid may give a temple, digging that temple gives a Stupa.

"If you try to dig history, you will get caught. If you dig any Masjid, you may get a temple. Digging a temple gives a Stupa. I don't know what you get if a Stupa is dug. My limit of history is 3,000-3,500 years of history."

He was referring to a historical perspective that the Vedic Brahminical tradition has had a long history of fights and struggles with Shramanic (non-Vedic) religions such as Jainism and Buddhism, which didn't believe in the caste system and the supremacy of the Vedas. Priyank is a practicing Buddhist.

Priyank was speaking during the release of journalist Naveen Soorinje's latest work, 'Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan in the history of the coast.'

Praising Tipu Sultan as a freedom fighter, the minister contrasted Tipu's efforts with the RSS, adding that the RSS didn't even raise a "small voice" against the British.

He referred to Tipu's four Anglo Mysore wars (1767-69, 1780-84, 1790-92 and 1799) and appreciated the 18th century king's anti-colonial credentials.

"Tipu Sultan was the father of horticulture. There are documents about it. Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan built Bengaluru's Lalbagh. The MP of that region is anti-Tipu. Will you then burn Lalbagh??" Priyank said in a veiled dig at Bengaluru South MP LS Tejasvi Surya.

Recollecting an instance when he visited England, Priyank noted that a British history scholar had told him: "There are many Indian freedom fighters in the history books if India. However, there are very few Indian freedom fighters in British history books - Tipu Sultan is one."