BJP President Amit Shah has called out the Congress government in Karnataka for ‘minority appeasement’ for its celebration of Tipu Jayanti. The BJP is staunchly opposing the celebration with their leaders calling the medieval ruler a tyrant and murderer, reported the Economic Times.
Shah was launching the Parivartana Yatra in the state which sees a specially designed ratha travel over 6,000 kms in the next six months, canvassing for votes. The state government has not allowed the BJP to hold its Parivarthan Yatra event in Kodagu onNovember 10 on the grounds that the situation is communally sensitive.
President Ram Nath Kovind had earlier praised Tipu in his speech at the joint session of the Karnataka Legislature to mark Vidhana Soudha’s Diamond Jubilee but Shah decided to ignore that and aimed potshots at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. “Siddaramaiahji is more interested in votebank politics through Tipu Sultan Jayanti rather than the development of Karnataka and its Rajyothsava (state unification day) on November 1,” he was quoted as saying in the Economic Times.
The statement by Shah comes on the day a public interest litigation was filed in the Karnataka high court seeking to quash an order of the state government to celebrate Tipu Sultan Jayanti across the state.
The petitioner, KP Manjunath alleged that Tipu Sultan committed atrocities against the Kodava community and added that if Tipu Jayanti is allowed to be celebrated, then it will lead to communal disharmony. "Tipu Sultan's reign resulted in the conversion and killings of thousands of Kodava as a retaliation to his defeat," the petition stated. There was large scale communal violence when Tipu Jayanti was celebrated in 2015”, he was quoted as saying in the Deccan Chronicle.
The circular was issued by the Kannada and Culture department of the state government but the petition filed by Manjunath is exploring ways to quash the order of the state government and restrain celebrations of Tipu Jayanti in Kodagu.