An experts’ panel constituted by the Karnataka government to look into the demand of BJP MLA Appachu Ranjan, who sought the removal of lessons related to Tipu Sultan from textbooks, on Tuesday ruled that nothing related to the freedom fighter’s history should be removed.
Noting that the history on Mysore would be incomplete without mentioning the of role Tipu Sultan, the panel has decided that the erstwhile ruler’s lesson will be retained in the textbooks.
Speaking to DaijjiWorld, experts said that Tipu Sultan played an extremely significant role in the South in the fight against the British Empire. Noting that the king had fought off Britishers in four wars in Mysuru alone, the panel of experts has recommended that the lessons should continue to stay in print.
The committee reviewing the issue comprised several renowned professors in history who noted that if Tipu Sultan’s story was dropped from books in Mysore, a significant part of its history would go missing.
The committee will now submit the report to the state government for a final decision. Textbooks for classes 6, 7 and 10 had lessons pertaining to Tipu Sultan and his administration.
BJP MLA from Madikeri Appachu Ranjan had appealed to Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar and Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to drop content related to Tipu Sultan from school textbooks.
Even BJP leader BS Yediyurappa after taking oath as Chief Minister of the state in July, controversially said that his government would do “everything they can” to remove mention of Tipu from textbooks in schools in the state.
Just three days after it came into power, the BJP government also scrapped the state-sponsored Tipu Sultan Jayanti celebrations, making clear the party’s communal agenda.
The committee’s report has come as a slap to the divisive politics of the BJP.
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Shaik Zakeer Hussain is the Founder and Editor of The Cognate.
