Karnataka to Celebrate Tipu Sultan Jayanthi Again, Defy Opposition

A portrait of Tipu Sultan. (Photo: PTI)

A year after the Karnataka government’s decision to celebrate 10 November as the birth anniversary of Tipu Sultan was termed unwarranted by many, the government has decided to make Tipu Sultan Jayanthi an annual affair.

The Times of India reports that the government has decided to celebrate the day across the state on 10 November.

The event will be organised by the department of Kannada and Culture at Ravindra Kalakshetra and not in Vidhan Soudha like the year before.

“The aim is to make the event a low-key affair and free of controversy,” an official told TOI.

Photo from Tipu Sultan Jayanthi celebrations in 2015. (Photo: PTI)

According to Kannada and Culture department in-charge secretary SR Umashankar, a sum of Rs 60 lakh has been earmarked for organising the celebrations in all districts.

The date was fixed after consulting historians and academics as there was confusion over his birthday.

SR Umashankar

The Karnataka government’s decision to celebrate the day on 10 November the previous year had invited flak from various quarters, with the BJP and RSS protesting against the decision. Some had also pointed out that the birth anniversary of Tipu falls on 20 November and that 10 November was the day he hanged 700 Melkote Iyengars.

A VHP activist had died in Madikeri during clashes with a Muslim group which had taken out a procession to celebrate Tipu Sultan Jayanthi.

The freedom fighter is not highly regarded by the people of Kodagu (Coorg) who were part of a rebellion against the Mysore ruler, says reports.

Former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar had then questioned the necessity of celebrating the anniversary, saying that though he was considered a secular ruler, many see him as communal because he is said to have converted many Hindus to Islam.

MA Devaih in an article published in Firstpost in 2015 wrote:

Nobody was demanding that Tipu be celebrated, so why did the government see it fit to thrust another “jayanti” on the state? The BJP regime did something similar when it introduced Valmiki and Kanakadasa jayantis as public holidays. Tipu Jayanti is probably the Congress reply; but there’s a difference. Valmiki and Kanakadasa were not known to have killed people. Nobody protested, very few even cared.