BJP cannot accept Tipu Sultan as noble ruler, distances from MLC H Vishwanath's statement
Bengaluru: Distancing itself from the newly nominated party MLC A H Vishwanath's comments hailing controversial 18th-century Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan, the BJP's Karnataka unit on Thursday termed it as personal, made in his individual capacity.
It also clarified that the BJP cannot and will not accept Tipu Sultan as a noble ruler.
"The remarks of Vishwanath, MLC, on Tipu Sultan are his personal (comments), made in his individual capacity.
The BJP distances from these remarks," party spokesperson Ganesh Karnik said in a statement.
The BJP is of the unanimous and considered view that Tipu Sultan is a "fanatic bigot" and his rule was "tyrannical" he said.
History bears testimony that he killed thousands of Hindus in Kodagu district and Christians in Mangaluru in his bid to establish Islamic rule, the BJP leader said.
"Tipu Sultan was zealous in converting people by the threat of the sword. Tipu Sultan had made Persian as the official language of his kingdom and hence he was against Kannada.
BJP cannot and will not accept Tipu Sultan as a noble ruler," he added.
In a statement contrary to the party's stand, Vishwanath on Wednesday had hailed Tipu as a "son of this soil" who fought against the British for freedom.
When pointed out that his party BJP has a different view on Tipu, the MLC had said it was a different matter.
"Tipu Sultan does not belong to any party or caste or religion.
Tipu Sultan is the son of this soil, so he should not be belittled, by limiting him to any religion."
On controversy relating to plans to remove lessons on the ruler from school textbooks, he had said, that was not the case, and "we have to read about Tipu Sultan."
Soon after coming to power in Karnataka, the BJP government had scrapped the birth anniversary celebrations of Tipu Sultan, an annual government event the party had been opposing since 2015 when it was launched during the Congress rule led by Siddaramaiah.
Some party legislators had demanded that chapters from school textbooks glorifying Tipu have to be dropped.
The BJP and right-wing organizations have been strongly opposing Tipu, calling the erstwhile Mysuru king a "religious bigot."
Vishwanath, a former Congress Minister, who was later in the JD(S), had defected to the BJP after rebelling against the then ruling coalition, along with several other legislators.
He had subsequently lost the December bypolls on a BJP ticket from Hunsur assembly constituency, which had fallen vacant following his disqualification.
He was last month nominated as a member of the legislative council.
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Bridge portion collapses on Jammu outskirts; 3-4 labourers feared trapped, 1 rescued
Jammu (PTI): A portion of a small bridge collapsed in the Bantalab area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Friday, trapping at least three to four labourers under the debris, while one injured worker was rescued, official sources said.
Authorities have closed the road link following the collapse of the portion of the bridge.
The incident occurred when labourers were carrying out repair work on a retaining wall near the bridge that was damaged in last year's flash floods, the sources said.
According to the sources, a section of the bridge suddenly gave way, burying workers engaged at the site under the rubble.
Police, Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams launched rescue operations to extricate those buried under the debris. They pulled out one injured labourer and shifted him to a hospital, the sources said.
Family members of the labourers present at the site said around six workers engaged at the site at the time of the incident came under the debris when the structure collapsed. The family members said while two of the labourers managed to escape, four got trapped.
The sources said those trapped included the husband of a woman labourer, a mason, an unmarried labourer and a relative of the contractor.
There was no official confirmation on the exact number of persons trapped under the debris till the filing of this report.
The rescue operations are ongoing.
