Senior BJP MLC AH Vishwanath on Wednesday hailed erstwhile Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan as “the son of this soil”, leaving the BS Yediyurappa administration red-faced over attempts to omit him from school textbooks.
“Tipu Sultan doesn’t belong to any party, caste or religion. Tipu Sultan is the son of this soil. We shouldn’t reduce him to any one caste or religion,” Vishwanath told reporters when asked about the issue of whether or not school children should study the 17th-century ruler in textbooks.
“Children should study Tipu Sultan, Mahatma Gandhi and the likes...that will instill a sense of pride for the country,” Vishwanath, who was with the Congress and JD(S) before joining the BJP, said.
Lessons pertaining to Tipu Sultan led to the controversy last academic year and the BJP government constituted an expert committee, which recommended not to drop him from textbooks.
Vishwanath’s stand is a deviation from the position taken by many BJP leaders who see Tipu Sultan as a “tyrant” and “anti-Hindu” who plundered, killed and forced Hindus to convert.
For the Congress, Tipu Sultan was a “valiant hero” and “patriot” who died fighting against the British. Soon after coming to power last year, the BS Yediyurappa-led BJP government cancelled the celebration of Tipu Sultan’s birth (Tipu Jayanti), which was an annual event started in 2015 by the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government.
Vishwanath, who was one of the 17 rebels who led to the fall of the Congress-JD(S) coalition for the BJP to come to power, is eyeing a Cabinet berth. He is said to be sulking on this matter.
“I had a role to play for the BJP to come to power and BS Yediyurappa to become the CM. That doesn’t mean we (rebels) came here to become a minister. We came for a better chance. So, I’m hopeful I’ll get an opportunity and Yediyurappa is the only leader who sticks to his word,” he said.
He added that he is the senior-most politician in Karnataka today. “Mallikarjun Kharge entered Vidhana Soudha in 1972, I came in 1978,” he said, referring to the fact that Kharge was now a Rajya Sabha member. “I was a legislator, MP and minister. I have a vast administrative experience. All I’m saying is that my experience should be made use of for the state’s development,” he asserted.