Wayanad: Around 200 years ago, the British wanted to rename a small town — located close to what is now the Kerala-Karnataka border — for administrative purposes. Tipu Sultan had died and the East India Company had just taken control of the land under his rule. The town, located close to both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, was used by the sultan’s army to store his ammunition. Hence, it was called Sultan’s Battery, which later became Sulthan Bathery.
This town, part of the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency and known for its cleanliness, landed in a controversy last week when K. Surendran — the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) candidate from the seat and the party’s state president — proposed renaming the town to Ganapathy Vattam, should he win the election.
“What is Tipu Sultan’s relevance for Malayalis? He attacked Malayalis, he converted Hindus to Islam,” Surendran said in an interview with Republic TV.
The BJP has repeatedly sparked controversy in neighbouring Karnataka regarding Tipu Sultan’s legacy. The most recent instance occurred when a Congress MLA in December last year suggested that the Mysuru airport be renamed after Tipu Sultan — a proposal that met with resistance from the BJP.
Renaming is a common practice for the BJP nationwide, from Allahabad becoming Prayagraj, to Mughalsarai junction being renamed after Jana Sangh leader and ideologue Deendayal Upadhyaya, to the idea, floated several times, of changing Hyderabad to Bhagyanagar.
As the Lok Sabha elections approach, the debate over the town’s name underscores the broader political and communal dynamics at play in the region. Surendran is pitted against the Congress’s Rahul Gandhi and the Communist Party of India’s Annie Raja in the election, which is scheduled in the constituency on 26 April.
While Surendran claimed that Ganapathy Vattam was the original name of the town, historian and filmmaker O.K. Johny, who has written extensively on Wayanad in his books Wayanad Rekhakal, says the town has had several names throughout its history.
According to Johny, the town, barely 21 kilometres from the Karnataka border, was also called Hennaradu Beedi (12 streets), when it was inhabited by the Jains. Later, when it was part of the Kurumbranad Kingdom, it was renamed Ganapathy Vattam after a Ganesha temple was built there.
He argues that Surendran’s choice to focus on the town’s current name was because it was linked to Tipu Sultan. “The BJP is using the name to create communal polarisation in the state,” said Johny.
at Sulthan Battery in ruins | Commons
One of the three municipalities in the district, the town has a total population of 45,417, according to the municipal records. Of this, 3.87 percent are from the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes make up 11.77 percent. Out of a population of 8,17,420, Wayanad district has 49.48 percent Hindus, 28.65 percent Muslims and 21.34 Christians, according to the 2011 Wayanad district Census.
“The basis of Surendran’s statement is to fuel anti-Muslim sentiment,” said Indrajith M.K, a Youth Congress leader in the district. He said the BJP leader wanted to consolidate Hindu votes for electoral gains as the constituency has a near-majority of Hindus.
The local CPI(M) leadership, too, objected to Surendran’s statement. Sulthan Bathery Municipality chairman and CPI(M) area committee member T.K. Ramesh told ThePrint that the town needed an MP who would raise its livelihood issues in Parliament.
However, the local BJP leadership backed Surendran and said the BJP chief’s statement was factual but was analysed by everybody in a religious light. “If the party’s state chief says that he will change it, we will support it completely,” said advocate P.C. Gopinath, a BJP leader in Sulthan Bathery.
Meanwhile, local residents ThePrint spoke to said Surendran’s statement was unnecessary in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls. Many showed great pride and attachment to the name Sulthan Bathery as it denotes history.
“Ganapathy Vattam is only the area surrounding the temple. The current controversy is about the BJP’s political interest and nothing else. And the name (Ganapathy Vattam) also suggests that it belongs to one religion. This is not a theocratic state,” said Pavithran, a resident of Sulthan Bathery.
Another resident, Joy, who works at the Assumption church in the city, said Surendran would have secured more votes if he hadn’t kicked up the row.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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