Panel recommends retaining chapters on Tipu Sultan in Karnataka textbooks
Bengaluru, Dec 12: An expert panel set up by the BJP government in Karnataka to look into the issue of removing chapters on Tipu Sultan from textbooks has submitted its recommendation, saying the 18th century Mysuru ruler cannot be ignored from the school syllabus.
The Committee, comprising historians and academicians, submitted its report on December 9 to the then Karnataka Textbook Society chairman H N Gopalakrishna.
"We have recommended that Tipu Sultan cannot be ignored from Karnataka's history because it will lead to a missing link," a member of the committee told PTI on condition of anonymity.
Two reports were submitted by the committee one for textbooks of primary classes (classes 6 and 7) and another one for high school (Tenth) a KTBS official said.
In both the reports, the committee maintained that there could have been negative shades in historical characters, which could be found in all the rulers.
"If we highlight only Tipu Sultan then we will have to portray other rulers too in a similar manner," the committee member pointed out.
Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had in October indicated his government's plans to remove lessons on Tipu Sultan from middle school history textbooks, saying he did not believe the controversial ruler of erstwhile Mysore kingdom was a freedom fighter.
"Tipu - we are going to drop everything and even in text book also (lesson regarding him) ...we are thinking to cancel," he said, days after BJP MLA Appachu Rajan demanded removal of the lessons saying it carried "wrong information".
Ranjan alleged that Tipu had carried out large-scale genocide and conversion in Kodagu.
He even submitted a memorandum with "documentary evidence" to prove his point, following which the expert committee was constituted.
The expert panel took note of Ranjan's allegations and examined them. However, it did not find evidence sufficient to agree with the MLA's claims, the member said.
"Leaders and people of Kodagu district have been talking about the genocide but when we look at the demographic divide now, things have changed a lot.
I won't call it genocide," another historian, who was part of the committee, said.
Soon after the BJP government came to power in Karnataka in July, it abolished the birth anniversary celebrations of Tipu Sultan, an annual government event the party had been opposing since November, 2015 when it was launched during the Congress rule, led by Siddaramaiah.
The BJP and right wing organisations have been strongly opposing Tipu, calling the erstwhile Mysore king a "religious bigot."
The saffron party has also alleged that the Congress party was celebrating the birthday of a religious bigot as part of its minority appeasement politics.
The Karnataka Textbook Society will submit the report to the State government which will take a call on it, according to a panel member.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
