Mangaluru: The celebration of Tipu Sultan’s birthday on November 10 by the state government has been revolted against by the Dakshina Kannada wing of Tipu Jayanthi Virodha Horata Samithi. The convener of the samithi said that Tipu was an anti-Kannada despot and there is no meaning in celebrating his birthday.
Kishore Kumar, the Convener of Tippu Jayanthi Virodha Horata Samithi (TJVHS) addressed the members of the media at the Press Club here on October 13, Thursday and spoke about how the celebration of Tipu’s birthday can hurt the sentiments of people. “There was unrest last year during the celebration and there will be a lot of protests this year against the celebration on a statewide level if the government turns a blind eye to this cause and do not drop the plan of celebration before November 1”, said Kishore.
“Tipu had developed Urdu and Persian instead of Kannada during his reign. Majority of the population in his kingdom were converted to Islam by force which made the Christians and Hindus to live in fear of being jailed. History has recorded that nearly 80,000 Christians were incarcerated during Tipu’s term”, he explained while stating that the government is glorifying Tipu by celebrating his birthday.
According to Kishore, there will be programmes to disseminate information on Tipu to people and widespread protests against celebrating ‘Tipu Jayanthi’ will also be held if the government doesn’t heed the demands of TJVHS. Memorandums will also be handed over to the DCs of districts across the state regarding this matter; Dakshina Kannada district wing of TJVHS will present the memorandum to the DK DC on 17 October.
