'BJP will be responsible for violence on Tipu Jayanti'

The state government has decided to go ahead and celebrate Tipu Jayanti on November 10, Kannada and Culture Minister R Jayamala said on Saturday. This despite the violence during the celebration in the previous years and the BJP’s staunch opposition to it.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru after a meeting with Minorities Welfare and Wakf Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan, Jayamala said, “We will definitely go ahead with the Tipu Jayanti celebration on November 10, it is our duty. Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has already taken a decision to this effect.”

Hitting back at the BJP over the threat to stage protests, Jayamala said the saffron party would be directly held liable if there is any untoward incident during the celebration.

The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government first started celebrating Tipu Sultan’s birth anniversary in 2015, terming the 18th-century ruler of the erstwhile Mysuru a freedom fighter. The BJP has branded him ‘anti-Hindu’.

While two persons were killed in Madikeri during a procession which was stalled by the pro-Hindu activists in 2015, clashes had erupted in several districts.

The matter pertaining to the celebration is before the High Court of Karnataka. On October 30, the High Court had imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the state government for failing to file objections to a PIL filed against the celebration of Tipu Jayanti by the government. The state had failed to submit its response. The court has now fixed the hearing to November 9, granting the government a last opportunity to furnish its reply.

Challenging a circular (October 24, 2017) issued by the Kannada and Culture department, directing all district administrations to celebrate Tipu Jayanti, Madikeri resident K P Manjunath has contended that Tipu Sultan had been responsible for the decrease in the Kodava population. He also recalled the communal violence in 2015.

Recently, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi charged that the coalition government was indulging in divisive politics. Attacking Kumaraswamy for not participating in the Valmiki Jayanti celebration, Trivedi had said, “The chief minister did not attend the Valmiki Jayanti celebrations. But he wants to celebrate Tipu Sultan, who has killed so many Hindus. This shows
his priority.”

The ruling party leaders have levelled the same charge against the BJP, saying that it wants to polarise people.