Bengaluru: Despite stringent opposition by the BJP and several other Hindutva organisations, the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government celebrated the birth anniversary of Tipu Sultan on Saturday.
The BJP, which called the state-sponsored celebrations as a “gimmick to appease the Muslim community”, made all kinds of wild and imaginary allegations to vilify the heroic freedom fighter and create a rift among communities on religious lines.
However, when the party itself was in power, it too tried to “please” the Muslim community by embracing and heaping praises on Tipu Sultan.
In photos that are doing rounds on social media; dating back to when the party was in power in the state, several BJP leaders, including former chief ministers BS Yeddyurappa and Jagadish Shettar and former deputy chief minister R Ashoka are seen wearing a headgear and posing with a sword like that of the late Mysore ruler.
Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah, under whose tenure the state government initiated the annual Tipu Jayanti in 2014, called out the apparent hypocrisy of the saffron party, whose workers and supporters have wreaked havoc in the state, in opposition to Tipu Jayanti.
In a series of tweets, attacking the double standards of BJP, Siddaramaiah said that the backlash against the state government for celebrating Tipu Jayanti was politically motivated, and alleged that BJP wants to polarize voters and communally rake-up the sentiments of the people.
ಟಿಪ್ಪು ಜಯಂತಿ ಆಚರಣೆ ಬಗ್ಗೆ @BJP4Karnataka ನಿಲುವು ಆತ್ಮವಂಚನೆಯಿಂದ ಕೂಡಿದ್ದಾಗಿದೆ. ತಾವು ಅಧಿಕಾರದಲ್ಲಿದ್ದಾಗ ಟಿಪ್ಪು ಜಯಂತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಭಾಗವಹಿಸಿ, ಟಿಪ್ಪುವನ್ನು ಹಾಡಿ-ಹೊಗಳಿ, ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಬರೆಸಿ ಈಗ ವಿರೋಧಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವುದು ಸ್ವಾರ್ಥರಾಜಕಾರಣವಲ್ಲದೆ ಮತ್ತೇನು?#TippuJayanthi @INCKarnataka
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) November 10, 2018
ಮಹಾಪುರುಷ-ಮಹಿಳೆಯರ ಜಯಂತಿ ಆಚರಣೆಯ ಸಂಪ್ರದಾಯವನ್ನು ಹಿಂದಿನ ನಮ್ಮ ಸರ್ಕಾರ ಹುಟ್ಟುಹಾಕಿದ್ದಲ್ಲ, ಅಧಿಕಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದ ಎಲ್ಲ ಸರ್ಕಾರಗಳು ಜಯಂತಿ ಆಚರಣೆ ಪಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಇನ್ನಷ್ಟು ಹೆಸರುಗಳನ್ನು ಸೇರಿಸುತ್ತಾ ಬಂದಿವೆ.ಆಗ ಕಾಣಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳದ ಪ್ರತಿರೋಧ ಟಿಪ್ಪು ಆಚರಣೆ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಮಾತ್ರ ಯಾಕೆ?#TippuJayanthi @INCKarnataka pic.twitter.com/KK8eujbYPa
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) November 10, 2018
“Protests against Tipu Jayanti are baseless and politically motivated. Tipu Sultan ruled the Mysore province and was a good administrator. He was not anti-Kannada and worked for communal harmony,” Siddaramaiah tweeted.
ಟಿಪ್ಪು ವಿರೋಧಿಗಳಿಗೆ ನಿಜವಾದ ಟಿಪ್ಪು ಸುಲ್ತಾನ್ ಕಾಣಬೇಕಾದರೆ ಕೋಮುವಾದದ ಕನ್ನಡಕ ಕಳಚಿಟ್ಟು ನೋಡಬೇಕಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಇದಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಬಿಜೆಪಿ ಸರ್ಕಾರವೇ ಪ್ರಕಟಿಸಿದ ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಓದಬೇಕಾಗುತ್ತದೆ.#TippuJayanthi @BJP4Karnataka @BSYBJP @CTRavi_BJP @JagadishShettar pic.twitter.com/LLrMJ0ie2Y
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) November 10, 2018
“(Jagadish) Shettar had penned a foreword for a book on Tipu Sultan when he was the chief minister. Yeddyurappa had sported a Tipu headgear and posed for photographs when he was in KJP,” Siddaramaiah said, and added that BJP’s stand was an act of self-deception.
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Shaik Zakeer Hussain is the Founder and Editor of The Cognate.
