Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has been forced to put its decision to drop chapters related to controversial 18th century Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan on hold, after a major outcry over why important personalities related to the region’s history were dropped.
The Department of Public Instruction had decided to remove Tipu Sultan and his father Hyder Ali from the Class 7 textbooks as part of its move to reduce the syllabus by 30 per cent for the Covid-hit academic year 2020-21, which has been brought down to 120 working days according to education department officials.
Other important parts of the curriculum for classes 6-10 that have been removed include entire lessons on the teachings of Jesus Christ and Prophet Muhammad, chapters on the history of the Mughals and the Rajputs, and on the drafting committee of the Constitution and salient features of the Constitution.
However, after the furore, a note was put up on the Karnataka Textbook Society’s website, which read: “Content reduction link for 1-10 classes has been temporarily withdrawn.”
KTS director Madegowda told ThePrint: “Education minister Suresh Kumar has asked us to put this decision in abeyance. We will update the new version in a few days.”
Madegowda acknowledged the furore, saying: “Don’t read too much into this. Tipu Sultan is being taught in Class 6 and 10. So why is there such a hue and cry?”
Also read: BJP and Congress use Tipu Sultan for politics but are shockingly ignorant of his history
Controversy over Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan has become a controversial figure in Karnataka, with one section calling him “a patriot who fought against the British for India’s independence”, and another, especially the Right wing, labelling him a ‘tyrant’ responsible for the massacre of several thousand Hindus.
In 2015, when the Siddaramaiah-led Congress was in power in Karnataka, it took the controversial decision to celebrate Tipu Sultan’s birth anniversary as an annual government event. However, this was met with stiff resistance from Right-wing groups, and as soon as B.S. Yediyurappa’s BJP government assumed power in 2019, one of its first decisions was to put a stop to this annual celebration.
In February this year, Education Minister Suresh Kumar had told this reporter that the government would not drop Tipu Sultan from the textbooks, adding that a committee had been set up to study the pros and cons of the issue as it needed more deliberation.
While the committee had suggested that the chapters be retained, they were dropped as part of the truncated syllabus. BJP sources told ThePrint that there was a growing demand among several leaders to drop lessons related to Tipu Sultan.
However, Tipu’s descendant, Sahebzada Mansoor Ali, told ThePrint that the decision was unacceptable. “Whether they accept Tipu Sultan or Hyder Ali or the Constitution, they are all part of history which cannot be changed,” Ali said.
“If care is not taken to ensure this syllabus change, then perhaps we will not be able to produce teachers like the late A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, whose teachings have inspired many and ignited young minds. The central government must act now because states are adopting policies that encourage religious hatred,” he added.
Also read: Tipu Jayanti goes to Karnataka HC: Sabarimala-style flashpoint or real historical debate?
Its like naming a road in israel after Hitler and a road in china after genghis khan
Who is Tipu Sultan??? The bloody Invader who killed thousands of Hindus. The bloody bustard who convert thousands of Hindus. The Bloody Shit Guy who looted from Hindu temple. Never ever teach greatness about Muslims who looted converted killed the innocent Hindus. Remove all Muslim ruler from Syllabus. Add Hindu Warriors only in Syllabus.
Tippu destroyed hundreds of Hindu’s sacred temples and killed thousands of Hindus to establish Islamic kingdom. Those who don’t know even a bit of History foolishly oppose dropping of Tippu lesson. India is only country in the entire World, accepted all sorts of autocratic rulers. Like Pakistan, Bangla and other Muslim countries where their religion gets first priority , same way our country should be Named as HINDUSTAN and Muslims should follow one nation and one Law. Any Religion can follow their own traditions without interfering with main stream. All citizens Wil have same and equal rights with now seperate identity. No minority special status. All are one Indians.
My question is thatyou mention only Right wing has problem with Tipu .is so does entire Coorg are right winger .Are u saying all coorgis are right winger .This is nothing but insulting coorgis . coorgis who are warriors were enslaved and their woman were raped by Tipu .So most of coorgis has that disgust n hate towards Tipu .He preferred Persian over Kannada .He called Afghan ruler to Invade India.What kind of patriot is he.
We can introduce Rajnikanth, Rajkumar some more legend who came from bottom as a icon so that our children learn a moral from
Them
Better to remove history, civics etc.
Why using extra minds on education,
If u remove tippus subject from book’s,
Karnataka government need money from tippu bangalore summer palace, srirangapatana, mysore etc, firstly think about corona, ಆಮೇಲೆ ಟಿಪ್ಪು ಸುಲ್ತಾನ್ ಹೆಸರಿನ ಮೇಲೆ ಕಣ್ಣು ಬಿಡ್ಅಣ್ಣಾ,
ಬಾಳೆ ಎಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಊಟ ಮಾಡಿ hand wash ಇಂದ ಕೈ wash ಮಾಡೋತರ ನಮ್ಮ ಸರ್ಕಾರ, ಇರೋ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆ ಮುಗಿಸಲಾರರು ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ಸಮಸ್ಯೆ ತಲೆ ಮೇಲೆ ಹೊತ್ತು ಕೊಂಡು ತಿರುಗುತ್ತಾರೆ,
Irony is Tipu Sultan fought the British before the empire was formed. British were still establishing themselves, Tipus was perhaps the last. Did he fight for Indian Independence? How is that even possible? Is this how we teach our history? Make up things based on our need to appease a particular community? This exactly what appeasement is. In the shadow of Partition, we bend over back words to recognize islamic contributions, irrespective of what truly transpired. It really does not matter, we name roads and institutions after tyrants of History. Folks such as Babar, Akbar, Aurangzeb, Khilji, Kafur et. al. Sad precedent we have set.
Don’t remove him. Let us teach our children about the religious bigot who killed thousands, converted thousand others, made offerings to the ottoman empire to be recognized as an islamic king and is now sold as a secular patriot. Let us teach his true legacy. Not the white washed BS masquerading as secular narrative.