BKC for expert panel on row over Tipu in textbooks

Former minister B K Chandrashekar has recommended constituting a committee of experts to end a ‘regular, cyclical controversy regarding text book lessons on Tipu’.

Chandrashekar noted that extreme positions regarding Tipu Sultan cannot be assessed for their validity by political parties or the media.

While one group claimed that Tipu was not a patriot and accused him of being intolerant of Hindu faith, the other group highlighted that Tipu did not target people based on their faiths, but because they were in league with the invading British.

The validity of these claims, he said, could only be assessed by a group of credible, widely respected historians representing the binary views.

“The group will then present a simple, comprehensible summary which should go into the textbooks. That should motivate students to reflect on the issue,” he suggested.

The Congress leader urged Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar to seek help from the Higher Education Council to put an end to the perennial debate.

“Education Minister Suresh Kumar can take the responsibility with help from the Higher Education Council, thus instituting a long-term solution to this and similar disputes,” he added.