BJP MLA from Karnataka, Madikeri, Appachu Ranjan appealed to erase Tipu Sultan’s narrative from history textbooks citing that the Mysuru ruler was anti-Kannada and that misleading content in the texts can harm the children reading it.
After this, primary and secondary education minister of Karnataka Suresh Kumar has written to the Text Book Society asking for a report that will be presented at a meeting that was called by Mr. Kumar himself.
Last week, Ranjan wrote to the minister pleading how Tipu Sultan’s history was adversely affecting kids and that his anti-Karnataka sentiments don’t do any good to the educational value that the society wants to impart.
The letter he staunchly wrote, read:
“We have all heard that the history taught in schools is not complete, and not completely the truth. We must first stop the earlier practice of glorifying Tipu Sultan in our school textbooks as we have been depicting his character without fully knowing about him. Tipu was out to expand his kingdom and to spread his religion; he never fought for independence.”
Just three days after coming to power, the BJP led government called off the Tipu Jayanti that used to be celebrated on 10th November every year. This lead to massive communal backlash and clashes but the government held it’s tongue and canceled the event altogether.
Tipu Sultan remains a controversial figure in history as he was a formidable enemy of the British but has a dark history when it comes to his reign in Karnataka’s Kodagu district.
