After furore over dropping Tipu Sultan from textbooks, Karnataka govt puts decision on hold

Govt had pared down syllabus due to shortened Covid-hit academic year, removed chapters on the teachings of Jesus and Muhammad, as well as the Constitution.

A Tipu Sultan float at the Republic Day parade in New Delhi | YouTube screengrab

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on the Karnataka Textbook Society’s website, which read: “Content reduction link for 1-10 classes has been temporarily withdrawn.”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?”

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.