BENGALURU: The
Karnataka high court will take up on Thursday the hearing on a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the controversial move of the state government to celebrate the
birth anniversary of Tipu Sultan, former ruler of princely state of Mysuru.
The PIL is filed by one K P Manjunatha, a resident of South Kodagu.
Before fixing the date, Chief Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee, who was heading the bench, posed a query to the government advocate as to what is the use of celebrating
Tipu Jayanti.
However, the government advocate defended the celebrations saying that Tipu Sultan was a great warrior who fought against the British.
At this juncture, the Chief Justice orally observed that Tipu is not a freedom fighter.
“As far as my knowledge of history goes, he is not a freedom fighter, but a ruler of a princely state. What is the use of celebrating this? Even if Nizam of Hyderabad had come, he would have countered him in same way,” the Chief Justice remarked.
The counsel for the petitioner, while praying the court for taking up the matter for immediate hearing, argued that in a democratic country, a monarch’s birthday is celebrated by using the money from consolidated fund.
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He also claimed that Tipu was a butcher, as he is stated to have slaughtered hundreds of local Kodavas during his reign.
He further claimed that during the last year’s celebrations, there were violent protests in Kodagu district and other parts of the state, resulting in a law and order situation.