After Tipu, now demand grows to remove his father Hyder Ali from school history textbooks

Bengaluru: Ahead of the crucial textbook committee meet on Tipu Sultan, an organisation has now submitted a fresh memo to Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and state education department to remove his father Hyder Ali from school textbooks.

The organization has further urged the committee to either erase Tipu from textbooks and if they cannot do so then history books should be re-written showing him as tyrants.

They further said that Tipu and Hyder Ali shouldn’t be shown as benevolent kings as they forcefully took over kingdoms and massacred Hindus.

The call for the removal of the 18th-century ruler of Mysore was given by BJP MLA Appachu Ranjan after which State Education Minister Suresh Kumar directed the Managing Director of Karnataka Textbook Society to submit a detailed report.

After coming to power, the Karnataka government said that Tipu Jayanti would not be celebrated in the state, which before was celebrated with much fanfare when Congress was in power. Yedyiurappa had earlier called Tipu a tyrant who was responsible for the persecution of Hindus.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court has asked the state government to reconsider its decision regarding the stay on Tipu



Jayanti celebration.

The court further refused to grant a stay on the government order saying that the state government must consider its decision taken on July 30.

The High Court further directed the state government to take appropriate decision in the next two months and revert back by the third week of January next year.

The Congress on the other hands sees Tipu as a freedom fighter with former chief minister Siddaramaiah saying that the Tiger of Mysore deserved the status as he was killed in the fourth Anglo-Mysore war and thus his birth anniversary should be celebrated. The BJP, on the other hand, claimed that the 18th-century ruler was against Kannada language and was "anti-Hindu".

Recently, Karnataka BJP spokesperson G Madhusudan alleged that the Congress revived Tipu Jayanti to appease the minorities and indulge in vote-bank politics. He further said that Siddaramaiah ignored the sentiments of Hindus to celebrate Tipu Jayanti just to woo the Muslims.

Last year, Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) remained away from the controversy so as to not offend both the communities. However its ally Congress celebrated Tipu Jayanti in Bengaluru and other district headquarters across the state.